How to help a child become a top athlete

Some people are born with a natural sporting talent. They are so much better than everyone else their age that everyone around them thinks they are guaranteed to be stars… But a lot of people who were great in their youth will never succeed in sports, and on the other hand, someone who wasn't so good will become a great athlete! How is it possible? The problem is that most people don't understand what talent really is and how to become good at sports.

Choose the right sport

The first step to becoming a top athlete is to choose a sport that your child enjoys. Different body types are suitable for different types of sports. Try different sports to find the one that the child really loves. It is good to remember that each child develops differently. How successful a child is at one point in their career is not important. Others may be better because they have grown faster, the control centers in their brains have matured faster, or they are simply training harder right now. But the moment your baby matures, he will catch up quickly.

Specialization at a later age

I am talking about choosing a dream sport. Does this mean that it is necessary to devote yourself to it from childhood? Actually, later specialization can be an advantage and more sports will enrich the movement possibilities of a young talented individual. Both coaches and scientists agree that children need a wide base of exercise to achieve peak performance at a later age. There is a relationship between practicing more sports and achieving top results in a dream sport at a later age. A significant part of Olympians even changed their target sport at a later age (around the age of 15), and even so they reached the absolute top.

STRENGTH, SPEED, ENDURANCE, DEXTERITY

Strength

The greatest development of strength is typically tied to the period of puberty. During this period, the body has natural anabolic processes. The body grows and matures, and at the end of this period it is basically able to withstand full physical exertion. Extreme strength training in the period before puberty can even endanger the child's health. With repeated extreme forces, the vulnerable growth zones of long bones may be disturbed and growth may not be physiological.

Speed

Speed ​​is somewhat innate. The number of white (fast) fibers in a muscle is genetically determined. There is no way to increase their number. However, you can train the movement technique very well and learn to use the speed potential to the full with the right technique. The younger school age is more suitable for developing speed.

Endurance

Endurance is represented by so-called red muscle fibers, sometimes referred to as slow fibers. They are very well blood supplied and thanks to this we are able to deliver a long-term performance. They have the advantage that the body can convert white high-speed fibers to red fibers practically at any time. Thus, in theory, you can start developing endurance as well in a young age as in an adult working in an office.

Dexterity

Dexterity means the ability to move in a coordinated way. It is good to realize that the muscle itself is not able to decide if and when to engage in movement. It is fully controlled by the brain and higher nerve centers. Thus, movement does not occur in the muscles, but rather in the brain.Anyone who understands how movement is created understands the importance of training not only muscles to have strength, but especially the brain to have a variety of options from which to choose the most ideal movement. I am talking about so-called neuromuscular coordination. It can be improved by a physician, for example, by teaching the athlete to guide movement in a different (better) way, or by training the speed of brain responses in controlling movement, for example on unstable platforms.

Once you know how movement is created, you understand why a wide base of movement from different sports is very important for success. Repeat one movement and hoping to become the best in the world in this movement is a good idea, but it is not suitable for a young athlete. He should work on a variety of movement patterns and record as many movement situations and their solutions as possible into the brain. Of course, if these movements are led by a quality coach, the athlete records quality patterns and it does not matter at all that this is not a sport in which he will later compete for the top.

The right setting of the psyche

What you believe to be the source of your success has a big impact on the outcome itself. Understanding and working hard are the way to success. The best athletes believe that their success comes from hard training rather than being lucky and born with talent. This is the explanation why they are constantly trying to improve. They try to improve every detail, and even if some techniques fail, they never feel that they shouldn't be able to do it. They understand that some things just can't be done right now. They listen to the feedback of the coach and the people around and try to improve. This is a behavior that everyone can learn from top athletes and use in training. In other words, they focus on the process, not the outcome.

What physician will help with

The first task of a physician is to diagnose the body's capabilities and teach a young athlete how to properly care for his body and reduce the likelihood of injury. He identifies strengths and weaknesses. If I know where my weak point is, I can better prepare my body to avoid possible injury in the future. In the case of a narrow specialization of the athlete, the physician can work to compensate for the one-sided load in sports.

A physician leads a young athlete in a sports career. He develops talent, teaches him how to use the possibilities of his body. Exercise enriches movement patterns and increases the capacity to adapt to unexpected loads. The physiotherapist's job is to give the brain a choice of multiple movement options. Let the athlete experience a better variant of movement, experience movement in a different intensity, position, range. When the body chooses in sports how to lead the movement, it will have a wide range of movements. Coordination and dexterity training can also be part of the physician's care. It teaches the brain to react quickly with precise movement and thus improves motor control. It stimulates the development of talent.