Re: America's Fall From OL Glory

[Guest guest]

,

I think you are taking this way to personally. I don't know your background,

but you seem to have something out for Olympic lifting. You seem like a team

sports person, and that's fine, so are many others. I respect team sports for

what they can give to certain people and OL for what is gives to people like me.

I would think you would do the same. If you want to start a topic " team sports

is better than individual sports " that's fine. But for this topic, we should

stick to ideas that can help build OL awareness in America. I may have went off

a little on a tangent, but I'd like to bring it back to discussion about OL in

America. And you've seemed to take this as some kind of personal attack the way

your post sound. Lets just focus on the topic, shall we?

[Fully agreed - the topic has really strayed too much off course and some

personal agendas have become

unfortunately apparent, so we really need to focus on 's original theme.

If we wish to compare individual and team sports, then let us do so in terms of

the different physiological,

psychological and social merits of each, but not in any attempt to " prove " which

is superior or inferior. That

sort of discussion is simply likely to become acrimonious and unproductive.

Some prefer to compete in individual

sports, but prefer to watch team sports; others vice versa; there are also some

who like playing and watching

team and individual sports. However, the important thing is that we all

recognise the dedication, focus and training

efforts required to reach excel in all sports. Mel Siff ]

Malcomb

University of Colorado - Boulder

Office: (303) 735-6363

Mobile: (720) 261-8353

jesse.malcomb@...

[Guest guest]

Dr. Siff wrote:

<If we wish to compare individual and team sports, then let us do so in

terms of the different physiological, psychological and social merits of each,

but not in any attempt to " prove " which is superior or inferior. That sort of

discussion is simply likely to become acrimonious and unproductive. Some prefer

to compete in individual sports, but prefer to watch team sports; others vice

versa;

there are also some who like playing and watching team and individual sports.

However,

the important thing is that we all recognise the dedication, focus and training

efforts

required to reach excel in all sports.>

Me:

I have come in late to this discussion, so not sure if this point has been

made, but a few authors such as Bompa suggest that athletes do well to

develop themselves in a variety of sports. Bompa feels that the fixation

with specialization in North America has led to early burnout in young

athletes. Athletes begin to specialize in their chosen sport too young,

without attention to developing a diverse range of skills by playing other

sports either competitively or recreationally, and as a result, their

careers are shortened. In contrast, argues Bompa, European training tends

to focus more on developing an all-round athlete by incorporating a variety

of sport demands into the athlete's program. Specialization happens much

later and in conjunction with continued general variety training. As a

result the athlete's career is prolonged.

[This is exactly what my Russian and Eastern colleagues told me. They found it

ironic that we in the West think that they specialise children prematurely in a

single sport because they have noted that Western children, especially in North

America, are vigorously exposed to very few childhood sports and, outside

football, baseball,

hockey, soccer and basketball, only those children whose parents are keen on

other

sports, learn a wider range of sports. My Bulgarian and Romanian colleagues

said

that children initially are taught about 10 basic sports, including gymnastics,

track

and field, wrestling, swimming, volleyball, soccer, tennis, and weight training.

Even at university, those studying physical education or kinesiology have to

learn

to coach ten sports, six at good club level and one at international level - and

all

have to learn methods of strength training. Remember that is where Bompa came

from!

Mel Siff ]

Thus instead of arguing over whose sport is better, which is a bit like

arguing whose spouse or significant other is better, we should be examining

how we can incorporate the best of a variety of sports into a successful

training program.

That being said, I would also like to take up the point that someone else

made (sorry, not sure who). OLs often appeal to a certain type of lifter

(they appeal to many folks, of course, but I'd just like to mention this one

group). As someone for whom gym class and team sports in particular were a

source of fear and loathing throughout school, OLs are a wonderful,

challenging pursuit.

People who are naturally good at team sports cannot

fathom the excruciating terror and humiliation experienced by those of us

who were fat, uncoordinated, lacking depth perception, asthmatic, seriously

noncompetitive, whatever, and could not really enjoy team sports. For folks

like us, competing against ourselves in the manner which many individual

sports demand is much more satisfying.

Other people may ask what the point

is, and I would reply that I don't see the point in throwing a ball through

a hoop or hitting it with a little stick, but perhaps our reasons for

enjoying our chosen activities are much more profound (or verbally

inexpressible) than money or recognition or any of those other criteria. My

father used to tell me that he loved playing football in high school, just

because he loved the sensation of impact when the players ran into one

another (imagine a little bespectacled, gray-bearded professor telling you

this and you'll see the gentle hilarity of it).

People who don't find OLs appealing obviously don't have certain

requirements from their sporting activity, and that's okay. I like the

mental as well as the physical challenge; to me OLs are like chess: you can

play for years and still learn new things.

To bring both Bompa's point and my experience together: rather than arguing

which sport is " best " or " most fun " or whatever, we should be striving to

integrate a variety of athletic activities into our development, depending

on our own needs as athletes and people. It's not an " either-or " thing;

it's a " both-and " thing.

Krista -Dixon

Toronto, ON

-------------------------

http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html

mistresskrista at home.com

[Guest guest]

Kindly note that no further letters will be published which address emotive

personal issues or any comparison of different sports to " prove " which is

best or worst. It has become evident that this style of letter is causing

the discussion to veer seriously off track and promote strong personal

disagreements on grounds which are not entirely objective. Any other

letters which offer more objective analysis of the original topic, namely

" why US weighlifting is ailing " , are still most welcome, especially if they

can help US Weightlifting to reclaim lost glory and once again flourish at

all levels nationally and internationally.

Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

Supertraining/

[Guest guest]

Very good points made Krista. Your post made a lot of sense. This is along the

lines of what I was hoping would be discussed when I brought up this topic.

As you said, an integration of many sports should be an emphasis in schools. In

this way, many skill sets can be developed, and if an athlete becomes

'burned-out' on one sport, they can use their skills in another sport that

interest them. When I was in school, I played team sports (such as football),

and I feel like the skills I developed in those sports have helped me in OL.

Though, I wish OL would have been introduced to me earlier, so I would have had

that option. And I think that's the key, options. The more options an athlete

has, the better chance they will have in finding the right sport for them

eariler in life. Look at Tara Nott for example. She way very good at several

sports (she played NCAA Div. 1 soccer, and competed in USA gymnastics) and

finally discovered OL by chance and wins a gold medal three years later.

Imagine if she had been introduced to OL in high school. I sit back some days

imagining if I had started in high school.

Unfortunately, associations like USAW don't have the money to really start an

integration program on a national level. Hopefully some more Olympic medals

will change that over the next couple of years.

Malcomb

Information Technology Services

University of Colorado - Boulder

Office: (303) 735-6363

Mobile: (720) 261-8353

jesse.malcomb@...