All sports, from millennaries such as running, fighting or launching to the most modern such as ‘breaking’, have adapted over time. Even the one that seemed more plated to traditions, football, ended up succumbing to modify rules … such as the offside, the number of changes or the appearance of remote arbitration. But what has led to an absolute revolution accompanied by the needs of smaller spaces, lower number of participants and a limited time of play has been the split of some disciplines in small daughters that, once established, have been winning their own spaces and popularity. They are, with all the respect they have achieved, sports in a reduced version of the 21st century.
What must be verified, depending on the different circumstances, is if they come to replace those who already exist or increase the leisure offer. “I think there is room for everyone, both for 3×3 basketball and for the traditional 5×5,” says Vega Gimeno, silver medal of the new specialty in Paris 24. “What happens is that a different modality has appeared, which satisfies The wishes of many people and who can be fans or not to the big basketball. They have seen that two or three hours are needed in front of television, as with some NBA game, to enjoy this game. Now, in twenty minutes games, they can live the same intensity and emotions. It is a new product that does not seek to replace any other, but to get its own space ».
This has been trying to football for years, but it is not easy to achieve. In the case of basketball, it is the Spanish Federation itself that encourages the double option, more in the one of the small ball there are many more impediments, according to Miguel Rodrigo, one of the most prestigious Spanish coaches, which currently directs the Thailand team . «Contrary to what happens in Brazil, where Futsal is considered a first part of the learning of players in early ages, in Spain it is seen as an enemy when removing players from football seven, which is where the teams are nourished soccer. And so it is very difficult for us to find our hole, because against football you cannot compete, ”he laments.
Rodrigo affects that work of Brazilian training. «There, up to twelve years play the room; Then, at thirteen and fourteen, they already mix it with the field and from there they usually keep a court day. It is the way to adapt the sport to children and not vice versa. When they are small, everything is on their scale and, when they grow up, make the leap. In this way, players as amazing have come out as Neymar, Marcelo, Ronaldo or Ronaldinho, with impressive technical bases, ”he says.
This way of learning to the minimum is the key to ‘karting’, a modality with their own personality that nobody wants to stop practicing. “All Formula 1 pilots are looking forward to having days to ride in those cars in which they started their careers,” explains Roldán Rodríguez, an expiloto tester of the highest category of motor racing. «It’s about living our sport in its purest state, with wide grills and very even cars in which the pilot’s ability on technical aids prevails. Here you can really compete and feel the foundations of the future, in addition to serving for the present. Driving the ‘karts’ when you are already professional allows you to continue with all the senses on guard. It is a fundamental preparation, ”he confirms.
Something similar happens with the ‘Pitch & Putt’, the adaptation of golf to meager routes, with holes that do not exceed one hundred meters and in which the short game is basic to meet the three blows demanded in each of the flags. Thomas Artigas was world champion of this specialty, but now he has just been done and will play next year at the Absolute Alps Tour. «I believe that both options are complementary and that all golfers should alternate them, because it allows you to always be fine with the most precise sticks. We all like to hit a stroke of three hundred meters but then we have to finish in the ‘Green’ and if you have no skill you will not make a good result, ”says Alicante.
As for combining the big one with the small, the former National Rugby Seven Selector, Tiki Inhausti, is clear. «In our case it is compatible with Rugby XV, but it is completely different. A good XV ‘rugbier does not have to stand out in seven, but one good here will also be in the other. The performance in the Seven is always higher because you have to cover more areas, players must be more exquisite and cannot be covered with others, ”he says.
The paddle wins in licenses
On the other hand, the paddle began as a variant of tennis and now has its own personality, to the point of having become the fashion sport (more than 100,000 licenses in Spain compared to 91,000 tennis). It shares some technical foundations with tennis but its evolution has responded more to the demand of people, being an alternative that combines fun and ease of learning. The former World Cup of the four walls, Paquito Navarro, emphasizes the similarities and differences between them. «Although they are different sports, they are totally complementary. Both work similar skills such as coordination, game reading and physical condition. Many tennis players find in the paddle a way of disconnecting and enjoying from another perspective. And myself, in my adolescence, I spent several years training tennis as a complement to paddle, I was passionate about. In the end, both feed on the same madness for the racket/shovel, but each one has their personality and their audience, ”he says. And now another reduced luck of racket sport, the pickletball, has been hitting with strength.
More critical is Benjamín Vicedo, Spanish volleyball Olympic who was also a professional volleyball professional, a reduced adaptation of the first that emerged a century ago as a sport that adapts to the medium (sand). «In my opinion, children should do what they like and, above all, do all kinds of physical activity. Therefore, at an early age you can make the two disciplines and then progress and specialization will put them on the right path. However, over the years, what could be complemented before has become exclusive. The professionalism of both sports excludes being able to devote themselves to both for a season. The medium is different and the type of training becomes much more specific. To succeed in the high level you have to focus on the work and choose one or the other, ”he explains.
Each small modality seeks its own space and experts agree that they should not try to compete with their parents, but to live on their own. Thus, Vicedo points out that in the volleyball “right now every one walks, with seasons, both of one and the other, that they have almost no rest”, while for Navarro “the objective of the paddle should not be to compete with the tennis , but find your way and shine on your own. Both sports have space to live together, and the growth of the paddle does not have to be detrimental to tennis ».
This vision is shared by Gimeno by recognizing that «I do not believe that 3×3 has arrived to unseat 5×5, in the end both are basketball. Each will continue on their way and I think that hobbies will opt for one or the other, because the audiences are different. But it will always win the basketball ». Also separately, rugby specialties will succeed. “The XV with its World Cups and the Seven with the Games have the insured impact,” says Inhausti. On the other hand, futsal will continue to seek the head with warriors like Rodrigo. “Despite all the obstacles that football puts us we will continue to occupy our hole because, above all, we are fighters,” he warns. 156,338 federated in Spain are right.
#invasion #sports #reduced #version
