Be sure to watch Dr. "Coach" Kanner discuss this important topic live on San Diego 6 News In The Morning this Monday, March 30th @ 8:20am.
Background: Another
Spring is here and baseball season has officially begun for most
children signed up for little league. As parents look forward to
introducing sport to their children, some important developmental
variables should be considered in order to make the advent of sport and
fun, interesting, and hopefully, a life long investment. Staring from an early age, many parents aspire for their
young children to become invested in sports. Depending upon the
particular background of the parent, this introduction can range from a
casual advent to one filled with expectation and pressure. Irrepective
of the parental approach, the preferred outcome seems to be the same;
that the child develops a long lasting investment in a sport that has
both physical and psychological benefits. Research however demonstrates
that if certain strategies are not followed from the beginning, the
child can develop an aversion to sport and "burnout" at a relatively
early age. This dilemma tends to happen under four conditions: 1) when
the concepts of competition and winning are introduced too early in
their development; 2) when skill acquisition is not emphasized enough
causing the child to develop "bad" habits; 3) when the sport activity
is not initially and continually considered "fun", and; 4) when the
choice of! the sport comes entirely from the parent and not the child.
Considering the first point, when children from ages 3 to 6 are
encouraged to "compete" and "win", rather than have fun, conflicts over
fears of loss and disappointing parents commonly become stressful. Such
stress and anxiety for the young child can cause them to participate in
a sport for the sole purpose of impressing parents and avoiding feared
rejection, rather than because they want to learn something new and
fun. In many cases when this occurs, the child over time will either
reject sports all together or play them for impressing others negating
their own, or their parent's desired esteem for them.
Referencing point number two, young children are still very much in the
process of developing fine and gross motor skills and usually before
the age of 6 or 7, have trouble even successfully bouncing and catching
a ball. Given these "normal" developmental achievements, when adults
"push to hard" for their child to "extend what they can functionally
perform", the child is often faced with failure and subsequent negative
self-feelings about themselves for not being able to perform to the
level that they believe they should be able to achieve. Furthermore,
the child can also feel embarrassed that he or she is not "performing"
well enough in front of others, making them feel bad about themselves.
Although many "pushy" parents will make statements like "just do the
best you can", the young child is very much attuned to what they can
and cannot do and are unable to grasp such abstract concepts such as
"do your best".
Third, young children are invested in play as a way to learn and
explore their worlds and play should always be "fun" and enjoyable.
When competitive or stressful conditions are introduced to children
before they are developmentally ready to handle the challenge, which is
usually between the ages of 8 and 10, the activity becomes stressful
and more of an issue of "winning" or "performing", rather than
developing an enjoyment and love for a sport. In addition, if time is
not spent on teaching children proper ways of hitting or shooting a
ball for example, poor habits will develop which may limit the
potential talent for the child related to that sport. Young children
are hungry to learn and when they are taught a sport in a fun and
non-compeitive manner, they tend to want to excell and continue to play
the sport in the future,
Finally, it is very important that they young child is given choice in
the type of sport or sports he or she would like to learn. Here, when
the child is given some freedom, rather than a parent insisting that
they play a certain sport, the child feels as though it was their
choice and this tends to increase the liklihood that they will stick
with that sport over time. Many parents who have backgrounds in
particular sports mandate that their child play that sport and then
become disappointed when they "burnout" or give it up by adolescence
without realizing that if their attitude was more "relaxed" that their
child would probably naturally want to play the same sport as their
parent due to wishes to identify with them.
In a nutshell, sports are a very important part of a child's
development and help with both psychological and physical development.
However, if caution is not taken from the beginning on "how to"
intorduce sports, many children will develop an overall aversion to
sport in general and miss out on something that could be very rewarding
for them in the present and future.
Key Points:
1. avoid competition and winning for the first 8 years
2. work on good skill acquision early to develop good habits
3. make it "fun"
4. give the child choice in the chosen sport they want to play
5. help them feel good about their accomplishments
Dr. Keith Kanner
Host
Your Family Matters Show
San Diego
6 News
