- Deliberate play encourages the development of improvisation skills, game sense and anticipation
- It has been shown that many great athletes from skill based sports had more deliberate play experiences when they were young than those less skillful
- Parents and educators can have a massive impact on children's skill development by providing deliberate play opportunities
Studies that review the developmental history of many great athletes have demonstrated the importance of a lot of deliberate play during the developmental years. “The most skillful team sport players have been found to differ reliably even from other team-mates playing at an elite level in terms of the amount of unstructured practice they have taken during their developing years.” (1)
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Anthony Ross is a noted Sports Psychologist, a member of the Australian Psychological Society and a level 2 tennis coach with Tennis Australia. He is a regular contributor to skillforkids.com and still enjoys playing in tennis competitions – even when he loses. 
