You do the math...

10 000 hours or ten years?....

One of the staff members here at the office was talking about the book ‘Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell’ earlier today. She was specifically referring to the 10 000 hours or ten years theory brought up in the book; a theory that is also front in center in all LTAD literature. (click here for for LTAD site info)

If it take that long to become a master of a skill, does it make that we expect our Tween AA players to perform at such an elite level... let’s say an interprovincial semi national year end event.

If you do the math quickly if they started at age 6 and they are currently 11 or 12... then that’s 6 years or less. No way they’ve acquire the skills yet to perform at such a level.

But I did says 10 years or 10 000 hours... so let’s see; 10 000 hours in 6 years would mean:
1666.66 hours of ringette per year = 138.88 hours per month = 34.7 hours per week = 4.9 hours per day.

So yes it could be possible to get 10 000hours into 6 years... however I’m pretty sure ringette 24/7 for six years at age 11 could be borderline crazy (or something else).

Using the same logic... you do the math... when would it be fair of us to put such high expectation on our athletes???
(Hint: We’ve just established that it’s after Tween, so no need to try and make a case for any of the earlier age groups)

Giving our athletes the opportunity to progress through the sport acquire the proper skills and more importantly ensure that they are enjoying what they do is what LTAD is all about.
Expecting an 11 year old to perform at a competitive level with high expectations doesn’t make much sense.

Provide them with an opportunity to learn, make friends, and have fun and do the best that they can... you’d be surprised at the results you get down the line.

Yours in Ringette,
-FL