My view on this topic is probably idealistic. Sadly things don’t work like that and if i have to be realistic i know it won't until you run things your own way. None the less these are the facts.
There is a HUGE! emphasis in sports (any sport, especially individual sports) to succeed at an early age, which does not necessarily fit with the science behind creating long term athletes. Herbert Simon (a nobel laureate) quoted by wikipedia as one of the most influential social scientists of the 20th century said (through research) "it takes 10years of extensive practice to excel in anything", this has been further worked by Ericsson and associates to = the 10000hrs rule which = "slightly more then 3hrs of deliberate practice daily for 10years". Just that should make you start thinking about where you can get to with most gymnasts.
The truth is that in most countries (aside from possible some old Russian states and Russian itself, and china... communist countries in general) athletes are pushed HARD and fast to get to get to a high as fast as possible, with a desire of for quick results and an emphasis on competitive performance and winning. As a result athletes undergo hard sports specific training without ever really grasping the basic skill and fitness development. I mean look at the gymnast on the world circuit whose form is far from perfect...why?!.
This is a general rule for the western world.. Look at all the miracle wonder drugs for weights loss, the quick money making schemes, credit cards...people just want to get to the final product HARD and fast without really spending the time to master the basics..Kids are taught this from an early age, not just through the sports, but through all most everything.
Like Johann Friedrich Von Schiller said "Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily". Every coach should know that basics are KEY! to gymnastics, but how much do we realllllly dedicate to basics? ... think about in comparison to the 10,000 hr rule... where does that time go in your sessions. Just today i was reading a fantastic article on this topic by Istvan Balyi (a leading expert on planning and periodization and on short- and long-term training and performance programming. if you google him you will get heaps of what i am read a lot on what i am talking about), and he points out that Western countries have adopted a 5 point generic model on athlete development
1. Talent Identification
2. Recruitment
3. Training
4. Competition
5. Retirement
However current administrative and coaching practice focus predominantly on 2 - Training and Competition. (guilty as charged. defense to come). However unfortunately for most sports participation = involvement with emphasis on competition, without really considering 1,2,5. For most parents sadly that is what they want to see..they kid out there on the field competing. Training suffers as a result of all the competition and rushing kids to competition readiness that actually it becomes a hindrance to development. Why do kids from communist countries who don't focus on early competition produce young athletes that are just phenomenal? 1. of the reasons is just that... they take the time to develop the athlete rather then competing them.
Unfortunately the way things work is that parents pay for their kids to be a competitive gymnast and that means they want to see them compete, and fair enough i suppose (that is my defense, i as a coach has to provide a service for a club), however as a results these gymnasts get to 12 and they are L4-5, maybe 6-7 and find they are hitting puberty, things being to change mentally, socialy etc.., sport gets harder, and as a result they get frustrated and most just quit. So retention in our sport is just not really focused on..people talk about it, but they search for magic cures, and the favorite one is to subsidized losses by getting LOTS AND LOTS more younger kids out of whom maybe a few might have that talent and ability to stick with the sport.
As aussie_coach pointed out there is SOOOO much more that a well trained gymnast can do after elite or high level gymnastic training. Sadly the capitalist way of running things does come into play, and quality usually comes secondhand to quantity.
What aussie_coach said
"Every child should be allowed to move at their own pace, for some that pace is fast. You really can't say that a child isn't aiming for elite. Not many kids do, but that doesn't mean they won't change their minds."
is soooo true, and i think that competitive gymnastics should be trained in that fashion, train everyone for elite regardless, at some stage they will figure out which path they want to take, regardless of that time it wont be time wasted. Because they will have those options available to them (which aussie_coach suggested such as collage gymnastics, circus, display, performer etc..). If they leave young...lots of time to find something else, if they leave in the middle its not to late to find another passion, if they leave late (high leve) than i alternative routes described by aussie_coach.
I for one am a great support of specializing a kids from a young age, train them like they are going to stay in the sport forever. let them choose, don’t choose for them. These are safe choices... the decision is not life altering for most. In the wild the primal way to teach younglings is usually the adult guiding them, and supporting them as they experiment, test.
