• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Header Logo
  • About Us
  • Podcast
  • Blog
    • All Articles
    • A Healthy Athlete
    • Coaching and Team Culture
    • Lifestyle
    • Sports Parenting
    • High Performance
    • Mindset and Mental Health
    • Girls Sports
    • Ask Dr. Sam
  • Inspiration & Humor
  • Videos
  • Join the Community
Facebook Instagram Twitter youtube pinterest

As seen in

Want Your Young Child To Become A Great Athlete? Do More Of This!

  • 178shares
  • 178
  • 0

Want Your Child To Become A Great Athlete? Do More Of This!

Playing a good ole fashion game of Twister with your 5-year-old might be a more effective way to teach him how to hit a baseball than spending hours in the backyard pitching to him. No joke.

Just like a child has to learn to walk before running, research shows it’s important children master movements first, before skills. Translation. They need to be good at twisting before ever swinging a bat. According to “Project Play” at the Aspen Institute and a comprehensive study done by Canadian Sport For Life (CSFL) children will struggle if they try to learn fundamental sports skills before learning fundamental movement skills, and this can lead to discouragement, feelings of inadequacy, and sometimes quitting.

On the flip side, children who master fundamental movement skills are more likely to participate in physical activity, play at higher intensities, have greater cardiorespiratory fitness, have stronger muscles and bones, have higher self confidence, and are more likely to maintain good health and develop lifelong fitness.

Making your child a better athlete might not come from more practice, but instead from more play. A long-term athletic development plan as outlined by the CSFL includes regular vigorous physical activity – active play – as the first stage in athletic development for children ages 0-6.  This is the time when children develop the “ABCs of movement – Agility, Balance, Coordination, and Speed” and, in turn, Fundamental Movement Skills, including:

  • Body Awareness (rolling, bending, climbing, balancing, stopping, twisting, turning, landing, falling)
  • Locomoter skills (running, hopping, leaping, jumping, galloping, skipping, dodging, and swimming)
  • Object Control skills (throwing, catching, striking, bouncing, dribbling, and kicking)

 

A child who masters the fundamental movement skill of catching, for example, has the foundation for moving into sport-specific catching such as fielding a baseball, catching a basketball pass, or receiving a football. Mastering a wide range of fundamental movement skills is critical for kids who want to be competitive in sports as sports combine multiple movement skills.

 

Screen Shot 2016-04-01 at 10.39.25 AM

Let’s imagine how this might play out.  You sign your 5-year-old child up for his/ her first organized baseball team.  He/ she has developed the fundamental movement skill of striking with an implement – things like striking a ball off a tee, striking a ball toward a target, striking a ball for distance, striking a ball and then running to get it.  When it comes to hitting a baseball, can you imagine how your child’s confidence, ability, and starting point for progression will compare to a child who has not yet been exposed to striking?

Screen Shot 2016-04-01 at 10.44.10 AM

The good news is parents can play a significant role in nurturing the critical first stages of a child’s athleticism… plenty of outdoor, unstructured play, exposing them to new fundamental movement skills, and being role models by joining them in physically active play.  It just may be one of the best things we can do to prepare them for organized sports, and set the stage for a healthy, active life.

Screen Shot 2016-02-10 at 10.23.35 PMMichelle Berkley is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Youth Exercise Specialist, Youth Group Fitness Instructor, and mom of two kids who play a variety of youth sports.

Primary Sidebar

  • Too Many Girls Struggle to Take Up Space in Sports
  • Raising Sisters in Sports and What the Humphrey Family Got Right
  • When Grandparents Attend Youth Sports Events
  • ☀️Youth Sports Summer Survival Guide: 10 Things Every Parent Needs
  • Raising A Goalkeeper
  • If All Else Fails: How Brain-Based Therapy Can Help Athletes Overcome Mental Blocks, Injuries, and Slumps 

Categories

  • A Healthy Athlete
  • Sports Parenting
  • Coaching and Team Culture
  • High Performance
  • Lifestyle
  • Mindset

Footer

WHAT'S TRENDING IN YOUTH SPORTS?
Asia Mape Video
follow us
facebook instagram twitter youtube pinterest

We Believe In The Power Of Sports

Injuries in young athletes have soared. Costs to compete have skyrocketed. Kids are quitting in record numbers. But we believe strongly in youth sports, and the many ways it improves our childrens’ lives.

We are here to help parents regain balance and sanity, and to help restore the joy, accomplishment, and core values derived from sports.

Begin your journey today.

 

More About Us

Join the Community

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for the latest news, articles, inspiration, stats, funny videos, tips and everything you need if you are a parent or coach in youth sports, delivered right to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

About the founder

According to a survey conducted over 30 years by two coaches and athletic administrators about what young athletes want to hear most from their parents after a sporting event, it turns out it is: “I love to watch you play.”

Become a Contributor

Advertising/Media

Contact

Privacy Policy/Amazon Affiliate Notification

Copyright 2025 © I Love To Watch You Play. All rights reserved. | Accessibility Feedback | Developed by Tiny Frog Technologies

Join Our Community

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for the latest news, articles, inspiration, stats, funny videos, tips and everything you need if you are a parent or coach in youth sports, delivered right to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sign up for our newsletter
  • Sign up for our weekly newsletter for the latest news, articles, inspiration, stats, funny videos, tips and everything you need if you are a parent or coach in youth sports delivered right to your inbox!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.