Abstract
While ideas from long-term athlete development (LTAD) models have been adopted and integrated across different sports, issues related to early specialization, such as increased risk of injury and burnout, are still common. Although some benefits may be associated with early sport specialization, sports sampling is purported to be a more effective approach to the long-term health and wellbeing of children. Furthermore, the concept of developing what are commonly referred to as “fundamental movement skills” (FMS) is central to the rationale for delaying single sports specialization. However, in place of sports sampling, it appears that the practice of strength and conditioning (S&C) has become a driving force behind developmental models for youth athletes, highlighted by the growing body of literature regarding youth athletic development training. In this perspective piece, we explore how conventional S&C practice may insufficiently develop FMS because typically, it only emphasizes a narrow range of foundational exercises that serve a limited role toward the development of action capabilities in youth athletic populations. We further discuss how this approach may limit the transferability of physical qualities, such as muscular strength, to sports-specific tasks. Through an ecological dynamics lens, and using basketball as an example, we explore the potential for parkour-based activity within the LTAD of youth basketball players. We propose parkour as a training modality to not only encourage movement diversity and adaptability, but also as part of an advanced strength training strategy for the transfer of conventional S&C training.
Highlights
The notion of developing basic movement skills to provide foundations for more advanced and specialized forms of movement is not new (Hulteen et al, 2018)
Youth players may fail to sufficiently explore the affordance landscape in relation their altered physical capabilities. This is not to appear contradictory to the premises of ecological dynamics already considered in regard to the coupling of perception and action; instead, it distinguishes between the effectivities of the individual player and the more complex environment that represents the sport (Woods et al, 2020)
Given the strength and conditioning (S&C) domain’s influence in the long-term athlete development model (LTAD) of youth athletic populations, we propose that the field expands its influence
Summary
The notion of developing basic movement skills to provide foundations for more advanced and specialized forms of movement is not new (Hulteen et al, 2018). While the original intention of the LTAD model was to be used as a framework for sports organizations to adapt and implement to suit their specific needs (Dowling et al, 2020), it has been argued that the development of FMS and general physical qualities remains marginalized in favor of sports-specific training (Liefeith et al, 2018; Williams et al, 2021). We discuss the role of conventional youth-based S&C practice and its limitations, and present alternative perspectives on the development of movement capabilities through an ecological dynamics lens It is through this lens that we propose parkour as a donor sport for the enriched development of FMS, as well as forming an advanced strength training strategy to facilitate transfer to basketball performance
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