The Whys of Athlete Academy Ages 9-12: Coordination

Imagine you're in gym class playing dodgeball and someone on the other team isn't looking. Now is your chance, wide-open target 10 feet away. You go to throw the ball, release; the ball goes 5 feet before hitting the ground and slowly rolls to their feet. What happened? Why is it that nowadays we see less and less ability of kids to be able to do something like throw a ball? It stems from a lack of coordination. Yes, all kids struggle with coordination to some degree, but why do we see it in such a sweeping percentage? Lack of play and lack of movement are normally to blame.

Many of us as kids grew up playing outdoors, climbing trees, jumping fences, walking on logs (or in my case stone walls with loose rocks). We don't think about how much those simple skills translate into our coordination as we get older. Climbing trees and fences teaches your body how to coordinate a foot and a hand at the same time in some cases. It all revolves around learning how to move more than one body part at the same time. Things that kids seldom experience anymore until they are old enough to join organized sports, that is assuming that they want to do so.

This is an important skill that has been lost often due to the modern practices. That is why such a big emphasis will be put on such movements in this summer's Athlete Academy for ages 9-12, to help teach them the movements necessary to increase their coordination.

-Coach Adam