BITESIZE #74 | Tim Wigmore: Why younger siblings are better at sport

Little siblings statistically have a significantly greater chance of becoming elite athletes….

This week we have an exclusive extract from an incredible keynote speech from our members club The High Performance Circle with sports journalist and author Tim Wigmore.

Tim unveils his research and explores why being a little sibling helps so much - younger siblings are challenged more, helping them develop the skills and psychological traits that athletes need - and how children without older siblings can enjoy the same advantages.

Watch the full fascinating keynote from Tim by joining ‘The Circle’ here: https://www.thehighperformancepodcast.com/all-content/timwigmore

You can also find exclusive podcasts, keynote speeches and boosts from some very special guests. Sign up! https://www.thehighperformancepodcast.com/thecircle

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**Title: The Younger Sibling Advantage: Why Younger Siblings Excel in Sports**

**Introduction:**
In this captivating episode, Tim Wigmore, a sports journalist and author, delves into the intriguing phenomenon of why younger siblings often possess a significant advantage in sports compared to their older siblings. Wigmore unveils his research and explores the various factors that contribute to this advantage, providing valuable insights for athletes, parents, and coaches alike.

**Key Points:**

1. **Playing Up:**
- Younger siblings often engage in play with older siblings, which presents a more challenging environment.
- This "playing up" scenario forces younger siblings to learn more and develop skills faster due to the higher level of competition.

2. **Alternative Skill Development:**
- To compensate for physical disadvantages, younger siblings must find alternative ways to compete.
- They develop unique skills, tactics, and mental fortitude to overcome their physical limitations.
- These skills often provide an edge in adulthood when physical disparities diminish.

3. **Mental Toughness:**
- Younger siblings face frequent defeats when competing against older siblings, fostering resilience and tenacity.
- They develop a strong desire to win and find ways to overcome adversity.
- This mental toughness is crucial for success in professional sports, where competition is fierce.

4. **Parental Influence:**
- Parents tend to be more relaxed and indulgent with younger children, allowing them more freedom to explore and engage in informal play.
- Informal play is vital for skill development and creativity in sports.
- Younger siblings benefit from this relaxed parenting style and have more opportunities for informal play, which contributes to their athletic success.

**Conclusion:**
Tim Wigmore's analysis reveals that younger siblings possess several advantages that contribute to their success in sports. These advantages include playing up, developing alternative skills, building mental toughness, and benefiting from parental influence. While genetics and individual talent play a role, the unique challenges and opportunities faced by younger siblings can pave the way for exceptional athletic achievements.

[00:00.000 -> 00:02.760] Hey there, great friends of the High Performance Podcast.
[00:02.760 -> 00:05.280] Welcome along to another of our bite-sized episodes
[00:05.280 -> 00:08.200] where we know that you can't always give us an hour
[00:08.200 -> 00:10.480] and sit down and, you know, travel in the car
[00:10.480 -> 00:12.700] or whatever you're doing and listen to high performance,
[00:12.700 -> 00:14.000] but we still want to help you.
[00:14.000 -> 00:15.400] We still want to get into your minds.
[00:15.400 -> 00:17.080] We still want to improve the way you're thinking,
[00:17.080 -> 00:17.920] educate you.
[00:18.840 -> 00:20.960] And I'm going to share something with you
[00:20.960 -> 00:23.680] on today's High Performance Podcast
[00:23.680 -> 00:29.640] from a journalist called Tim Wigmore. And he came to us and spoke to us about why younger siblings are
[00:29.640 -> 00:34.280] better at sport. Let me say that again for those of you who've got two children, why
[00:34.280 -> 00:39.060] younger siblings are better at sports. Now, Tim didn't come on to the high performance
[00:39.060 -> 00:43.360] podcast, Tim appeared on the high performance circle, which is our members club where we
[00:43.360 -> 00:48.780] have keynote speeches like this. We have presentations, we have short high performance boosts. There's
[00:48.780 -> 00:53.720] loads of amazing stuff. It's all totally free because we are so keen to reach as many people
[00:53.720 -> 00:57.860] as possible with the messages from High Performance. So very briefly, if you want to join the High
[00:57.860 -> 01:07.040] Performance Circle, just go to the highperformancepodcast.com, click circle, and you can get your invite right there. But basically what Tim spoke about
[01:07.040 -> 01:09.600] is that younger brothers and sisters
[01:09.600 -> 01:13.020] statistically have a significantly greater chance
[01:13.020 -> 01:15.320] of becoming elite athletes.
[01:15.320 -> 01:17.320] And in the session that he shared with us,
[01:17.320 -> 01:20.520] Tim unveils his research and also explores
[01:20.520 -> 01:23.840] why being a younger sibling can help so much.
[01:23.840 -> 01:26.700] And I actually, just two or three days after Tim came and spoke to us,
[01:26.700 -> 01:30.700] I was watching the children in the garden and I saw the skills
[01:30.700 -> 01:35.200] and the psychological traits that athletes need that my son is building
[01:35.200 -> 01:37.100] because he's younger than his sister.
[01:37.100 -> 01:40.100] In fact, he's only sitting a few feet away from me right now.
[01:40.100 -> 01:43.000] He's just got in from school and he's listening to this.
[01:43.000 -> 01:46.340] I'm talking to Sebi about the time that you were in the garden with Florence and you
[01:46.340 -> 01:51.020] were chasing that stick and she kept winning, do you remember? Yeah, he nodded his head, he
[01:51.020 -> 01:55.020] doesn't talk much, he's very cool, he's my boy. But basically I was watching them
[01:55.020 -> 01:57.780] outside and Florence said right Seb we're gonna run and we're gonna grab
[01:57.780 -> 02:02.780] that stick, it was on the front guard and she said the first one to get to five is
[02:02.780 -> 02:06.080] the winner and she's nine. He's only six
[02:06.520 -> 02:08.520] so she's long and
[02:08.600 -> 02:14.820] Lanky and does loads of sport and she's fast and she's a light and and you know as much as he wants to be as quick
[02:14.820 -> 02:17.420] As every three years younger. He's like a foot. He's two-thirds her age
[02:17.420 -> 02:21.460] So I watched them and they ran first and she won by a long way
[02:22.060 -> 02:24.560] one nil to her and then they ran again and
[02:28.500 -> 02:36.000] That time he actually got a little bit closer, but it was 2-0 to her. And then they went again, and it was 3-0 to her. And I know for a fact, because Florence doesn't experience that side of the coin very often,
[02:36.000 -> 02:45.300] if that was her at 3-0, she's gone. Well, not only does she know she can't win, but the pain of being beaten three times in a row by her younger brother would have been too much for her and that's fine
[02:45.300 -> 02:47.760] And she can't help that in many ways because she's an older sister
[02:47.760 -> 02:49.200] So she lives in a house where?
[02:49.200 -> 02:52.900] the only people that beat her at games and events and things are
[02:53.000 -> 02:56.200] Either her mom and dad or her friends when they come around or her older cousins
[02:56.200 -> 02:58.760] So she doesn't she's not exposed to this too often
[02:59.400 -> 03:04.400] And I watched them and she sort of stopped at three now and looked at Seb as if to say like you can't win now
[03:04.400 -> 03:09.200] And he was just ready to go again and again and on the fifth go
[03:09.200 -> 03:14.120] he got the closest he got to getting that stick. She still got it and she won
[03:14.120 -> 03:19.160] all five but it was the fact that after four defeats he is still going and you
[03:19.160 -> 03:23.200] know what that is what life is about. Life is about the resilience to just
[03:23.200 -> 03:27.640] keep going and that's where we have to be so careful as parents. You know I see everywhere I look helicopter
[03:27.640 -> 03:31.600] parenting where parents are hovering around their children, smoothing out the
[03:31.600 -> 03:34.680] path in front of them, taking away any obstacles, making sure that they are
[03:34.680 -> 03:39.800] fully equipped for success. The one thing that they don't fully equip them for is
[03:39.800 -> 03:44.000] failing because they remove the failure. Therefore they remove the learning and
[03:44.000 -> 03:47.500] therefore they remove that the vitamins and minerals
[03:47.500 -> 03:50.660] being built up inside them to deal with disappointment
[03:50.660 -> 03:53.620] and failure and struggle and letdown.
[03:53.620 -> 03:57.700] And therefore, they create non-resilient people
[03:57.700 -> 03:59.020] who go out into the big wide world,
[03:59.020 -> 04:02.540] and at 21 or 22, they have their first ever failure.
[04:02.540 -> 04:03.700] And it derails them completely,
[04:03.700 -> 04:08.920] because they haven't built up the ability to deal with that failure. So Tim is about to speak to you. This is a
[04:08.920 -> 04:13.360] very short part of Tim's amazing talk. Just to remind you, if you want to hear the full
[04:13.360 -> 04:19.200] thing, just go to the High Performance Circle, the highperformancepodcast.com, click on circle.
[04:19.200 -> 04:22.600] It's a fascinating conversation. You'll love it. There's loads more amazing stuff there
[04:22.600 -> 04:29.200] as well. But right now I'll leave you in the capable hands of Tim Wigmore explaining why younger siblings are better at
[04:29.200 -> 04:37.360] sport. I hope you get lots from it. This is a picture of the Williams sisters Venus and Serena
[04:37.360 -> 04:42.080] when they're there there's there were seven or eight so you'll see in the picture here that
[04:42.080 -> 04:45.160] Venus who was 15 months older, so she's a couple
[04:45.160 -> 04:47.360] of inches taller than Serena here.
[04:47.360 -> 04:51.960] In their matches as kids, Venus would normally win and she was thought of as the better player.
[04:51.960 -> 04:57.280] But their father, Richard, he always said that Serena would go on to be the better player.
[04:57.280 -> 04:58.560] And history has proved that he was right.
[04:58.560 -> 05:02.960] Venus has had a fantastic career, but Serena is probably the best female tennis player
[05:02.960 -> 05:04.120] of all time.
[05:04.120 -> 05:09.260] What was true of the Williams sisters is true more generally in sport. If you are a younger
[05:09.260 -> 05:13.740] sibling you're generally better at sport than your older siblings. There was a study of
[05:13.740 -> 05:20.600] athletes in 33 different sports and it compared the family dynamics of elite athletes, so
[05:20.600 -> 05:25.560] those who had success at international level, and it compared them with near elite athletes,
[05:25.560 -> 05:28.120] so that's athletes who were successful at youth level
[05:28.120 -> 05:29.800] but didn't quite make the leap.
[05:29.800 -> 05:31.800] And it compared the number of siblings
[05:31.800 -> 05:33.600] that elite and near elite athletes had,
[05:33.600 -> 05:34.560] and it found that on average,
[05:34.560 -> 05:35.880] there was no difference at all,
[05:35.880 -> 05:38.320] so they both have the same number of siblings.
[05:38.320 -> 05:41.120] But then the study looked at whether siblings
[05:41.120 -> 05:42.360] were older or younger,
[05:42.360 -> 05:44.420] and here they found a really big difference.
[05:44.420 -> 05:49.120] So for elite athletes, they had an average of 1.04 siblings who were older.
[05:50.400 -> 05:56.080] Near elite athletes only had 0.6 older siblings, so a gap of almost twice. This has also been
[05:56.080 -> 06:01.360] borne out when, just like the Williams sisters or the Murray brothers in tennis, two siblings
[06:01.360 -> 06:06.000] go on to play professionally in the same sport. In about two out of three cases then,
[06:06.000 -> 06:10.000] the younger sibling also goes on to be more successful than the older sibling.
[06:10.000 -> 06:14.000] So this is true both in terms of becoming professional
[06:14.000 -> 06:19.000] and also when two siblings both go on to be professional in the same sport.
[06:19.000 -> 06:22.000] So that is the little sibling effect, and what's going on here?
[06:22.000 -> 06:28.600] Really, there's four explanations. The first is playing up.
[06:28.600 -> 06:35.080] The idea of playing up is if you look at Serena and Venus, so Serena, she was playing obviously
[06:35.080 -> 06:41.360] with her older sister and that was going to be more difficult for her. It was more challenging.
[06:41.360 -> 06:49.720] We know in skill acquisition, not just in sport, but across life more generally, you learn more when you fail more. And basically if you're
[06:49.720 -> 06:53.440] winning more than sort of 70% of the time, things are a little bit too easy
[06:53.440 -> 06:58.040] and you're not learning enough. So you think of, again think of Venus and Serena
[06:58.040 -> 07:01.200] playing tennis against each other. Well even if they were playing for the same
[07:01.200 -> 07:04.480] amount of time on the court, Serena was actually going to be learning more from
[07:04.480 -> 07:08.000] that same amount of practice because it was more difficult for her and that
[07:08.000 -> 07:12.800] forced her to develop different skills. She would actually learn more from the same amount of time
[07:12.800 -> 07:18.720] than Venus would. The second advantage for younger siblings is they have to develop alternative
[07:18.720 -> 07:25.840] skills. Basically, they have to compensate for generally being smaller, less strong, and less fast.
[07:25.840 -> 07:27.880] They have to find other ways of competing.
[07:27.880 -> 07:30.240] This can be skills, it can be tactics,
[07:30.240 -> 07:32.640] it can be the mental side of the game.
[07:32.640 -> 07:35.040] And essentially what happens is,
[07:35.040 -> 07:36.220] if you're the younger sibling,
[07:36.220 -> 07:38.620] you have this physical disadvantage as a kid,
[07:38.620 -> 07:41.240] you have to find these other ways of making up for that,
[07:41.240 -> 07:43.600] and you get an edge in those skills and tactics.
[07:43.600 -> 07:47.400] And then when you both become adults, well, you've probably neutralized that physical
[07:47.400 -> 07:52.720] disadvantage you once had against your older brother or sister, so that's no longer a factor.
[07:52.720 -> 07:55.960] And actually, because of being younger and having that disadvantage all along, you've
[07:55.960 -> 08:01.240] had to develop all these other skills, which means you don't have a physical disadvantage,
[08:01.240 -> 08:04.600] but your advantage comes from everything else.
[08:04.600 -> 08:07.500] So it's harder all the way along through your journey,
[08:07.500 -> 08:11.800] but that forces you to compensate, and that's a really, really, really positive thing for you.
[08:11.800 -> 08:16.000] The third advantage for younger siblings is the mental side of the game.
[08:16.000 -> 08:21.700] So being a younger sibling, it's really, really tough when you're playing against your older sibling.
[08:21.700 -> 08:26.960] You're losing most of the time, and this And this affects your competitiveness, your tenacity.
[08:26.960 -> 08:30.680] You're used to losing and you want to do everything you can
[08:30.680 -> 08:32.480] to stop that and to change that.
[08:32.480 -> 08:36.800] So lots of athletes, including Michael Jordan,
[08:36.800 -> 08:38.840] have talked about how playing with their older siblings
[08:38.840 -> 08:40.120] was really formative for them.
[08:40.120 -> 08:43.200] So Michael Jordan was the youngest of three brothers.
[08:43.200 -> 08:45.560] And the only person famous who could beat him in a game of
[08:45.560 -> 08:48.560] pick-up basketball was Larry, his older brother.
[08:48.560 -> 08:50.480] And Michael later said that he
[08:50.480 -> 08:52.080] wouldn't have become the player he did,
[08:52.080 -> 08:55.000] were it not for those games with Larry and how
[08:55.000 -> 08:59.680] they instilled a real desire in him and a will to win.
[08:59.680 -> 09:02.000] And this is really good preparation for
[09:02.000 -> 09:04.160] being a professional athlete basically,
[09:04.160 -> 09:05.360] because it develops your
[09:05.360 -> 09:10.560] competitiveness, your determination to win, and to find ways of winning at all costs.
[09:10.560 -> 09:15.360] Again, that desire seems to be greater when you're a younger sibling and you're used to
[09:15.360 -> 09:20.360] losing. Having that goal to aspire to, it pushes you more than if you're an older sibling
[09:20.360 -> 09:26.220] and you're winning as normal. The motivation to go from losing to winning seems
[09:26.220 -> 09:32.100] to be greater than just to carry on winning when you're winning and you're used to winning
[09:32.100 -> 09:35.760] and maybe a little bit complacent. The fourth advantage for younger siblings
[09:35.760 -> 09:39.860] comes from their parents. All parents will deny it and they'll say they treat all their
[09:39.860 -> 09:47.000] kids exactly the same, but we know this just isn't true at all. So we know with younger children, with little siblings,
[09:47.000 -> 09:48.760] they tend to get more rope.
[09:48.760 -> 09:50.480] Parents are more relaxed.
[09:50.480 -> 09:53.240] They let their younger children play more outside
[09:53.240 -> 09:54.680] at a younger age.
[09:54.680 -> 09:56.520] They're just a bit more relaxed about them.
[09:56.520 -> 09:59.600] And that really benefits the younger siblings in sport.
[09:59.600 -> 10:02.560] So this means that the younger children in sport,
[10:02.560 -> 10:05.200] they get to have more informal play at a younger age.
[10:05.200 -> 10:08.440] Informal play, you know, just kicking a ball or, you know,
[10:08.440 -> 10:11.720] hitting a ball with their friends and family in a park.
[10:11.720 -> 10:15.440] Very, very simple, but informal play is incredibly important
[10:15.440 -> 10:17.560] in shaping who becomes elite athletes.
[10:17.560 -> 10:19.840] There have been studies in a wide range of sports,
[10:19.840 -> 10:22.140] and this tells us that the number of hours
[10:22.140 -> 10:25.100] that kids do of informal play is actually a better predictor of who goes on to be elite that the number of hours that kids do of informal play is actually
[10:25.100 -> 10:29.680] a better predictor of who goes on to be elite than the number of hours of formal training
[10:29.680 -> 10:30.840] and matches and so on.
[10:30.840 -> 10:32.960] So what's the magic of informal play?
[10:32.960 -> 10:36.680] Well, it's basically the fact that you are unsupervised.
[10:36.680 -> 10:38.960] You are forced to learn things for yourself.
[10:38.960 -> 10:43.880] You're forced to actually to diagnose problems and react to that, which is great preparation
[10:43.880 -> 10:45.940] for what you need as a professional athlete.
[10:45.940 -> 10:48.560] You're not always relying on your teacher,
[10:48.560 -> 10:51.660] your coach, your mom or dad telling you what to do.
[10:51.660 -> 10:53.260] You have to learn things for yourself
[10:53.260 -> 10:55.720] and that is so, so important.
[10:55.720 -> 10:58.360] It passes, says problem solving,
[10:58.360 -> 11:01.520] gives you more creativity,
[11:01.520 -> 11:04.700] and it just means you're more kind of sure
[11:04.700 -> 11:05.880] of what you need to do.
[11:05.880 -> 11:07.580] You know you can adapt.
[11:07.580 -> 11:10.080] That adaptability is so, so important.
[11:10.080 -> 11:12.600] And again, if you're a younger sibling
[11:12.600 -> 11:13.840] with parents a bit more relaxed,
[11:13.840 -> 11:15.340] able to have more informal play,
[11:15.340 -> 11:17.080] you're going to generally become more creative
[11:17.080 -> 11:18.180] and more adaptable.
[11:18.180 -> 11:20.240] So what are the things that everyone else
[11:20.240 -> 11:21.520] can learn from that?
[11:23.360 -> 11:24.200] It was cool, wasn't it?
[11:24.200 -> 11:25.280] Tim was fantastic.
[11:25.280 -> 11:31.960] And if you want more from Tim, go to the highperformancepodcast.com, click circle, and there you can apply
[11:31.960 -> 11:33.240] to join the High Performance Circle.
[11:33.240 -> 11:36.600] We've got tens of thousands of members already, so join them.
[11:36.600 -> 11:41.020] Come on the journey, join the movement, the high performance movement.
[11:41.020 -> 11:45.560] Thank you very much for joining us for this episode of the High Performance Podcast, Bite Size Edition.
[11:45.560 -> 11:49.080] Thanks to Finn from Rethink Audio, Hannah, Will, Eve, Jemma, everyone involved in the
[11:49.080 -> 11:50.080] podcast.
[11:50.080 -> 11:54.640] Remember, there's no secret guys, so go and find your own version of high performance
[11:54.640 -> 11:57.360] and we'll see you for another episode very soon.