Bill Hartman's 9 Thoughts on Long-Term Athletic Development - Indianapolis Fitness And Sports Training
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Bill Hartman’s 9 Thoughts on Long-Term Athletic Development

written by Bill Hartman

athletes IFAST

 

1. In a sporting environment, athletes perform based on learned prediction models associated with experience.

2. Research supports the understanding that motor [movement] variability facilitates motor learning and prediction capabilities that determine the ultimate level of performance.

3. Greater movement variability [movement experience] is associated with a faster rate of learning and better prediction modeling (a rare case of more is better).

4. The nervous system regulates motor variability and responses to perceptions of threat to the human system.

5. Exposure to an unpredictable environment like most sports demands a broad spectrum of movement variability to limit threat and increase the level of sport performance.

6. Early sports specialization intentionally restricts motor variability and movement exploration, and therefore, limits motor learning and prediction modeling.

7. Limited motor learning and prediction modeling results in novel experiences in a sporting environment being perceived as threatening and the nervous system will limit human system variability to perceived demands of the sporting activity as a means of protection.

8. Limitations in human system variability [including movement] limit ultimate sports performance.

9. Early sports specialization is in conflict with optimal long-term athletic development of young athletes.

IFAST athletes

Bill Hartman

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