Without doubt, one of the biggest themes to occupy the mind of anybody involved in childcare or education is fitness – most lately the subject of obesity among the very young is very high profile.
While it proves a great hobby-horse for government ministers and educational commentators, there seems precious little in the way of actual, workable solutions to accompany all the hand-wringing that goes on.
I’ve always been of the belief that sport is vital to a child’s development, and taught correctly at a young age generally makes for higher chances of athletic achievement – even brilliance – later in life. I have no truck with the lobby that says sport is under-funded in Britain. But while that may be true, it isn’t the sole source of our ills in competitive sport on the international stage. I think the way that children are introduced to sport and then coached and taught about it can let them down.
My specialism, Biomechanics, is an in-depth knowledge of the way the body works in an athletic context, and as such it can lead you into the minutest details of musculo-skeletal minutiae… the shorthand for this is, dull, dull, dull!
Sport shouldn’t ever be dull – to watch or to learn. Kids are famously and frequently described as sponges, able to absorb masses of information through natural mental agility and curiosity. Failure to engage these enquiring minds and develop physical proficiency in sports is more at fault, than so-called lack of investment in sport.
Consider this…
Children are great mimics. Their instinct is to copy. So instead of taking a class of unskilled and disengaged kids into a field, throwing them a ball and telling them to get on with it, why not show them how it’s done by showing them video of how Beckham bends it, or how Graeme Hick gets a cricket ball to travel off the bat at incredible speed, or how Jonny Wilkinson spiral kicks a rugby ball… and let them copy it?
The kind of video capture and analysis software techniques used for professional athletes offers young people one enduring advantage when learning to master a sport. By taking theory out of the abstract, showing how the sporting greats do it, encouraging them to emulate it, then marking their progress by comparing video of their own performance as it develops and improves, it actually brings sport to life in the classroom!
I don’t think there is a single better favour you can do for a child who wants to be good at a sport.
Video is a powerful and indispensable tool in showing developing athletes what they should be looking for and how to emulate it.
While this is more about technique, there is the additional benefit of injury prevention – in disciplines like gymnastics knowing the correct way to land, tumble and fall is crucial – in cricket a fast bowler who does not understand correct front foot placement in the delivery stride will develop ankle problems sooner or later.
Sports may be under-funded, but that’s not really the point at debate here. In truth, the UK offers a vast array of sports to the enthusiast willing to learn. And the best way to see as many children as possible realize their potential is by allowing them to look, absorb and copy.
A good technique is a safe technique as well as an efficient one. With skill comes achievement and further enjoyment…
Dr Paul Hurrion
Article in Independent Education Today Magazine (October 07)