Some claim that youngsters must specialise from an early age to get to the top and that every minute spent playing other sports could have been detrimental to his development of his footballing skills. Not everyone agrees.
Intense use of the same muscles and "parts of the brain" can cause debilitating injuries and lead to "burn out". There is only so much strain a youngster's body can endure and the brain and heart might lose interest with the relentless nature of practice and play in one sport.
A UK study covering 1,000 athletes found that those who played a variety of sports up to the age of 15 were advantaged over those who specialised.
After the age of 18, elite athletes choose their "major" and can then "catch up" on the training in their eventually chosen major sport; studies show that national team players have had less organised practice in their youth and specialised later.
Raphael Nadal played more football than tennis up to the age of 12. Djokovic names skiing as the reason why he is so flexible. Federer played badminton, football and basketball, all of which helped his hand-eye coordination.
Ibrahimovich was into taekwondo and won a black belt at 17, hence his agility in jumping and timing. There are many others!
Some claim that 10,000 hours of practice will turn you into an elite athlete. Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters may be cases in point......but how many youngsters tried that and failed becoming bored and physically and mentally damaged.
Sports' scientists state that the later a child specialises the more likely he is to succeed in their chosen sport.
Here is a three stage model from Jean Cote, a Canadian sports' scientist;
- try many sports up to the age of 12 (maybe variable depending on maturity)-it makes youngsters intuitive and independent thinkers.
- focus on a few sports until 15 years old
- specialise from 16.
- Academies like results and will try to specialise to achieve success.
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