The Advantages of Late Bloomers in Youth Sports

Some athletes are naturals at what they do, and from the moment they take up their sport, they excel. However, there are also plenty of good athletes that take a more circuitous route to the mastery of their sports, as some are late bloomers. These individuals can experience many advantages along the way: For example, they do not deal with the pressure that instant success often brings.

  1. Work Ethic

    • Unlike their more prolific counterparts, late bloomers learn early that they have to work harder at their sport to adequately compete. Once they get the hang of the sport and physically develop, they often catch up to their more talented peers, and many times exceed them on the playing field. Those who are fast starters can tend to not work as hard.

    Expectations

    • Late bloomers in youth sports do not have to live with the looming possibility of high expectations. They are free to have fun and learn the sport at their own pace. If a child is an instant success, parents and coaches will fawn over them and they will feel pressure to live up to what they hear is expected of them. Late bloomers' development is more on their own terms, and is less competitive.

    Athletic Peak

    • Late bloomers learn early to be patient, and to not expect too much too early. This lets them focus more on quietly developing their skills without following a stringent timetable. For example, if a youth football player can bench-press 225 pounds in 10th grade, he may not get criticized for not reaching 250 pounds by the following summer. Plus, those who excel right off the bat run the risk of peaking too early.

    Element of Surprise

    • One advantage that late bloomers often enjoy in the field of play is the fact that opponents will often underestimate their abilities. This is good because they can then be their team's secret weapon, since they will not get much attention from the other team's defenders. By using late bloomers for the element of surprise, you will also free up the other talent on the team to do more.