Develop your child into an expert

By Estelle Norman

Do you ever wonder why two athletes who participate in the same sport at the same time
vary in their sport development? Ever wonder why as a parent, you invest so much time and
money in the development of your child’s basketball skills only ending up with him or her
quitting the sport? Would you like to know how to successfully cultivate your child’s
development in basketball? Well, in this article, I outline a developmental approach, highlighting
the stages of sport development on the road to helping your child become an expert basketball
player. First, we must take a look at the research that operationally defines the different stages of
sports development, and then we will explore the practical applications of this information.

Background Information
Côte, a researcher in the field of expertise, identified three sports specific stages of
development: the sampling years, the specializing years, and the investment years (Starkes &
Ericsson, 2003). In the sampling years (6-12 years of age), the parents are responsible for
initially getting the child involved in sports. The child being able to sample from a variety of
sporting activities marks this stage. The main goal of the sampling years is for the child to
experience fun and excitement. In addition, the child has a chance to develop fundamental motor
skills and sport-specific development emerges as an important characteristic of sport
involvement (Starkes & Ericsson, 2003). The specializing years (13-15 years of age), is the
transition when the child should gradually decrease his or her involvement in the number of
sporting activities and focus on one or two specific sports. In the last stage, the investment years
(16+ years of age), the child becomes committed to attaining an elite status of performance in
one activity. The most important elements of this stage is the competitive, strategic, and skill
development in that specific sport (Starkes & Ericsson, 2003). Côte’s stages are anchored in the
theoretical concepts of deliberate play and deliberate practice according to how much time is
spent engaging in those two activities.
Deliberate play activities are any activities that maximize inherent enjoyment and are
defined by the following criteria (Starkes & Ericsson, 2003). The first, intrinsic motivation is any
play behavior or activity done for its own sake. The child is not engaging in activity for the sake
of bodily needs, external rules, or social demands, but the engagement is simply just because.
The second, positive affect, are the activities the child finds pleasurable and enjoyable. Third, it
is a nonliteral behavior that is not carried out seriously but has a pretend quality. The fourth is
means/ends and the child is more interested in the performance of the behavior than outcome of
the behavior. The fifth criterion is that the behavior shows some variation and flexibility in form
or context. Set up by children or adults involved, deliberate play activities are regulated by rules
adapted from standardized sports rules (Starkes & Ericsson, 2003). Deliberate play allows for a
stress-free environment conducive to learning in which a child can experiment with various
forms of movement. On the other hand, deliberate practice requires effort and generates no
immediate rewards and is motivated by the goal of improving performance. These practice
activities are performed daily, in a work-like environment and are frequently not enjoyable to
perform (Baker, Côte, & Abernethy, 2003).
The sampling years
This stage is characterized by a low frequency of deliberate practice and a high frequency
of deliberate play (Starkes & Ericsson, 2003). When a child is engaging in a high level of
deliberate play activities, the intrinsically motivating behaviors will have a positive effect on
overall motivation and the willingness to participate in deliberate practice activities later in
development. In addition, the child will be motivated to participate in deliberate play because of
his or her own interest in the activity. The child should participate in a number of sporting
activities, for example, along with basketball the child can participate in soccer, baseball or
softball, flag football, or playground activities such as kickball or tag. Social influences are also
very important in this stage. The three main sources of influence in children as they progress
through their sports development are coaches, parents and peers. When putting your child in
organized sports, it is important to make sure that his or her coach is kind, cheerful and caring.
When coaches fit those characteristics, children are more likely to enjoy the sport they are
participating in. The main goal of the coach should be to let the child play and focus on his or her
basic skill development. Parents are also supportive and directly involved during this stage.
Parents involvement consists of coaching the child, helping structure the deliberate play
activities, being involved without an actual input on activities, participating with the child as a
playing partner, and observing and giving feedback (Starkes & Ericsson, 2003). For example, a
parent can buy a basketball goal and have a mini court in the driveway so the child can play
basketball or drive the child to his or her activity location. One of the main reasons children
participate in sports is because their friends also participate in sport. The child can invite their
friends over to play basketball allowing the child to participate in sport during his or her free
time.

The specializing years

This stage is characterized by similar amounts of deliberate play and deliberate practice.
Although there is an increase in the amount of activities a child participates in the sampling
years, the specializing years is marked by a rapid decrease in the amount of activities as well as a
decrease in deliberate play (Starkes & Ericsson, 2003). The child begins to participate in more
organized activities such as competitive games, weight training and organized practices. Coaches
become more serious and technical regarding the child’s involvement in practice and training.
The child also begins to develop a closer relationship with their coaches, and both the child and
the parents are dedicated to skill development. Parents become committed supporters of the
child’s decision to be involved in a limited number of sports. Parents should not pressure their
children to specialize in a specific sport (Starkes & Ericsson, 2003). If the child chooses to
specialize in a sport other than basketball, parents should be equally as supportive in helping
their child reach an elite performance status in that sport. In addition, parents stop coaching their
child and now start helping structure deliberate practices. So instead of using the mini court at
home for leisure activities, the child can work on his or her jump shooting form and the parent
can rebound the ball.

The investment years

This stage is exemplified by a high frequency of deliberate practice and a low frequency
of deliberate play and the transition in which the child makes the decision to become an elite
athlete and specialize and invest all his or her time into training. By now, hopefully the child has
gained enough appreciation of his or her ability through deliberate play, which has affected
his/her decision to stay involved in the sport. The reduction in the number of activities the child
participated in during the specializing years continues in the investment years. The child may
continue participating in one or two more activities for relaxation purposes or for cross training
for his or her specialized sport (Starkes & Ericsson, 2003). By now, hopefully the child has
gained enough appreciation of his or her ability through deliberate play, which has affected
his/her decision to stay involved in the sport By now, hopefully the child has gained enough
appreciation of his or her ability through deliberate play, which has affected his/her decision to
stay involved in the sport. For example, the child has now decided that he or she wants to
become an elite basketball player. The child will devote all his or her time to developing the
skills necessary to attain that goal. Coaches in this stage should be more qualified and
knowledgeable about basketball and the parents are indirectly involved. The parent can still
assist in structuring deliberate practice activities as well as observe and offer feedback, but the
primary role is for the parent to be a follower and supporter of the child (Starkes & Ericsson,
2003). One way parents can assist in deliberate practice activities are by finding various
basketball camps devoted to the refining and further development of basketball skills. Parents
should provide optimal learning conditions in order to foster the child’s pursuit of higher-level
performance.
In sum, helping your child become an elite basketball player takes hard work and
commitment. While the child is young it is important that they find gratification in the
participation of sport. If they are internally motivated and possess an internal desire to play
basketball, they will have the motivation to engage in more complex kinds of learning and
deliberate practice. It is the role of the parent to provide the proper environment for the
development of the child’s skills at each stage. It is up to the child to continue the deliberate
practice activities in order to gain the knowledge, experience, and skill to become an elite
performer.
 Reference

Starkes, J. L., & Ericsson, K. A. (Eds.). (2003). Expert Performance in Sports: Advances in
Research on Sport Expertise. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Baker, J, Côte, J, & Abernethy, B. (2003). Sport-specific practice and the development of expert
decision-making in team ball sports. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 15, 12-25.