Drinking 8 glasses of water a day. “Learning styles.” The Lizard brain.
Multitasking.
Albert Einstein failed math. Ice baths promote quick healing.
Diamonds are made from coal.
Sugar makes kids hyperactive. Learning is linear. 10,000 hours rule.
Muscles have memories.
Benefits of Kinesio tape. Sports drinks are better than
water at rehydrating.
A cleanse will detox your body. Stretching before practice reduces injury.
Bats are
blind.
Speed ladders improve agility. Humans have only five senses.
George Washington had wooden
teeth.
10,000 steps a day.
Organic food is better for you.
Like it or not, we live in a society where myths abound. (See
above) Health, politics, social norms and societal events are a breeding ground
for lies, myths, misconceptions and inaccuracies.
How we get here is an amalgam of human behavior. Often myths are
the shortest circuit between two observations. In his book “How Minds Change,”
author David McRaney points out that ‘for a very long time most people believed that
geese grew on trees. People believed that rotting meat gave birth to flies, that
piles of dirty rags could transform into mice, and that burning logs created
salamanders.’
Take a
second and a reasonable person can see why these myths were born. Other myths
are born out of financial gain and profit. An illustrious example being the
‘magic bracelets‘ that for many seasons
were a staple at AVP events. Advertiser claims on its website heralded
that the use of the Power Balance Bracelet improved balance, strength and agility. And
at a cost of $30-70, consumers figured it must be true and the “placebo effect”
was invoked. The placebo effect is when a
person's physical or mental health appears to improve after taking a placebo or
'dummy' treatment. Millions were sold but when a few consumers saw no benefits, they
sued the company.
The company was hit with a $57 million dollar judgement from which
it never recovered.
Perhaps you think myths don’t affect you, but take a look at education in the United States. Education is STILL instructing the myth of “learning styles” in teacher education. The myth of “Whole Language” reading v. the “Phonics” way of teaching reading has possibly cost a generation of students reading comprehension gains. The “Whole Language” idea was sprung from a charismatic New Zealander and perpetuated by a few teachers from the U.S.
One of them has admitted the idea was flawed
and lacked any sort of science to back the programming but these advocates and
the book companies printing their misinformation reaped huge financial gain. In
the meantime, student reading scores plummeted. What’s even worse is several
school districts are STILL using this program currently.
Pick up a newspaper and scan story after story about a political
faction of our country that goes all in on the idea that since their candidate
lost, the election must have been rigged. (We can only hope this idea doesn’t
permeate sports although in some small instances, it already has!)
As stated earlier, myths are often created in the minds of people looking for
the shortest distance between what they want and where they are at. People
bought “Real Water” because it told them they would be healthier if they drank
it despite its pseudo-science explanations of why it was so good for you. It
was, of course, water from Lake Mead packaged and sold as a cure all for what
ails you. This myth cost the owner a $228.5 in damages when his water caused
liver damage in some of his customers.
How about this one, currently popular on social media channels around the
country.
Why is a volleyball blog talking about myths?
The world of youth sports is rife with them. Buy this product and
see your athlete’s (fill in the skill or stat here) will improve by 60%! Come
to this camp and watch your team contend for a State Championship next season.
Run this offense and your team will blow out their opponents’ week after week. As
a Parent or a Coach that wants what is best for your athlete(s), it’s easy to
get caught up in these claims.
The 10,000-hour paradigm, stretching before practice, wrist snap, muscle memory, speed ladders, Kinesio tape etc. These myths STILL permeate our sport in daily trainings.
Coaches glom onto ideas and myths without much evidence because
they think this drill “looks cool” or they follow a coach they like on social
media. Coaching has become infected with drills and training ideas that are
counter to the science of skill acquisition because maybe a) there is a profit
to be made, b) clicks and likes or perhaps c) the coach watching is comfortable
with the content because this is what they did as an athlete.
Also consider the constraints of a coach’s life. Most coaches in
our sport are part time employees with another job (or two) to help pay bills. They are
paid what the market bears but the amount of time, mental taxation and
emotional currency spent dealing with a dozen or so young athletes and their
parents can be overwhelming. When asked to learn more, they often will take the
easiest road and so drills highlighted on social media, with its unlimited and
easy access, become a haven for a coach in need of a new drill. The easiest
path is followed.
We all need to be better consumers of information despite the galactic
avalanche of ‘noise’ surrounding youth sports cures, equipment and promises. As
a coach or a parent, don’t take the easy road as it’s probably not going to
take you where you want your athlete to go. Simple messages of how to build
team culture or strong confident coaches don’t take into account that relationships
are hard. Human beings are different and complicated. Sports are an environment
that is difficult to predict. Understand that youth sports is full of myths
trying to sell you, recruit you or change what you are doing.
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Find your center as a coach and parent. Put your faith in science, in models with historical success. Short cuts are full of landmines and mineshafts, the kind that can chase a young athlete from a sport they love. Be that consumer that looks for the genuine hits and not the myths.
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