Sensitive Periods to Train General Motor Abilities in Children and Adolescents: Do They Exist? A Critical Appraisal

B. Van Hooren; M.D. Croix

doi:10.1519/SSC.0000000000000545

Sensitive Periods to Train General Motor Abilities in Children and Adolescents: Do They Exist? A Critical Appraisal

B. Van Hooren^*, M.D. Croix

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Some long-term athlete development models have proposed generic sensitive periods or "windows of opportunity" during childhood and adolescence that are optimal for training general motor abilities such as strength or speed. However, it remains unclear whether these periods exist. This review will therefore critically appraise the rationale behind generic sensitive periods. We discuss several issues with generic sensitive periods and argue that general motor abilities and the associated sensitive periods do not exist. The identified issues with generic sensitive periods question their validity and we therefore suggest that they should not be used to train youth athletes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	7-14
Number of pages	8
Journal	Strength and Conditioning Journal
Volume	42
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000545
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2020

Keywords

trainability
long-term athletic development
training emphasize periods
youth training
resistance training
latent variables

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10.1519/SSC.0000000000000545Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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title = "Sensitive Periods to Train General Motor Abilities in Children and Adolescents: Do They Exist? A Critical Appraisal",

abstract = "Some long-term athlete development models have proposed generic sensitive periods or {"}windows of opportunity{"} during childhood and adolescence that are optimal for training general motor abilities such as strength or speed. However, it remains unclear whether these periods exist. This review will therefore critically appraise the rationale behind generic sensitive periods. We discuss several issues with generic sensitive periods and argue that general motor abilities and the associated sensitive periods do not exist. The identified issues with generic sensitive periods question their validity and we therefore suggest that they should not be used to train youth athletes.",

keywords = "trainability, long-term athletic development, training emphasize periods, youth training, resistance training, latent variables",

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AB - Some long-term athlete development models have proposed generic sensitive periods or "windows of opportunity" during childhood and adolescence that are optimal for training general motor abilities such as strength or speed. However, it remains unclear whether these periods exist. This review will therefore critically appraise the rationale behind generic sensitive periods. We discuss several issues with generic sensitive periods and argue that general motor abilities and the associated sensitive periods do not exist. The identified issues with generic sensitive periods question their validity and we therefore suggest that they should not be used to train youth athletes.

KW - trainability

KW - long-term athletic development

KW - training emphasize periods

KW - youth training

KW - resistance training

KW - latent variables

U2 - 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000545

DO - 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000545

M3 - Article

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JF - Strength and Conditioning Journal

IS - 6

ER -

Sensitive Periods to Train General Motor Abilities in Children and Adolescents: Do They Exist? A Critical Appraisal

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Keywords

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