Youth Sport Specialization
Sports For Life
Sports have always been a way for athletes to better themselves, compete, learn to work as a part of a team, deal with both victory and defeat and so much more. We truly believe that sports and healthy competition are an imperative and a great model for life. Here is a link to a recent podcast on this topic.
A large part of our focus at Wagner PT & Performance is based on getting (and keeping) athletes of all ages healthy so they can reap the benefits of participating in sports. We strive to be the Physical Therapists and coaches we wish we had when we were younger.
Part of this mission to keep athletes healthy is educating the public about youth sports specialization. This blog will cover this topic, help you understand what it is and make better decisions for the youth athletes in your life.
3 out of 4 households with school aged children have at least one child participating in sports (1). That translates to about 45 million kids overall. Even with these participation rates, we should all be working to increase the number of kids participating in sports.
Early physical activity and sports participation have been shown to improve health outcomes for kids throughout their lives. This is in addition to the mindset benefits and life skills learned. However, our goal at the moment is not to convince anybody that youth sports are valuable. It is to discuss a specific issue in regards to youth athletes: sport specialization.
What is Youth Sport Specialization?
This might seem obvious at first glance, but it is important to define exactly what we mean. A study from 2015 defined it this way:
“Sport specialization is defined as greater than 8 months out of the year focused on one sport, choosing a single main sport and/or quitting other sports (3).”
So, even if an athlete is participating in multiple sports they can still be defined as “specialized” if more than 8 months out of the year is focused on one sport. The reason we are being so specific about certain definitions is because the research around sport specialization, injury rates, safety, etc. uses these definitions.
If athletes are to compete at a high level, specialization is inevitable. However, we need to have a much more nuanced conversation about the timing of sport specialization. There has been a recent trend towards earlier sport specialization and this can be somewhat problematic. Let’s discuss why.
Early Sport Specialization
Unlike sport specialization in general, there really isn’t a specific definition for what constitutes “early specialization.” This will change depending on the individual athlete and the sport they participate in.
For example, athletes who participate in highly technical, individual sports (think gymnastics, swimming, tennis, etc.) tend to specialize earlier than team sport athletes.
“Early” specialization for these kinds of athletes means something very different from team sports. I will not claim here that any guidelines should be applied across the board without regard for individual circumstances, but they are a good place to start.
Later Sport Specialization Makes Healthier Athletes
There is a misconception in the youth sports world that the best athletes specialize earlier. I can understand this idea because it makes sense on the surface. If an athlete starts focusing on specific sports skills earlier, wouldn’t they have more time to practice and learn and be better at their sport overall?
Basically the short answer is no. Research has consistently shown that the best athletes specialize LATER, not earlier.
Here’s why:
Athletes who specialize early are restricting their training to a narrow set of skills and abilities, which limits the long term development of well-rounded neuromuscular and movement skills.
Early specialization results in a higher risk of injuries due to lack of well-rounded development and repetitive strain from increased volume of training and inadequate rest.
Psychosocial issues such as burnout, stress, over scheduling, etc. are more common in athletes who specialize early.
Higher training volume has a pretty much linear relationship with increased injury rates (2).
To make it simpler, early specialization:
Restricts development of well-rounded physical skills.
Can result in overuse injuries and
Can result in increased stress, burnout, etc.
The best athletes are well-rounded, adaptable to many different circumstances and healthy. Early sport specialization makes all of these things harder (but not impossible) to achieve.
The Best Athletes Specialize In Their Sport Later
Even with some of the statistics and information about injury rates and long term outcomes, some people are still skeptical about delaying sport specialization.
We all want our youth athletes to be as successful as possible. While we know that the majority of athletes don’t reach the level of playing in College, professional or Olympic sports, trends from these athletes are telling in terms of best practices.
Again, delaying sport specialization helps decrease the likelihood of injury and increases the likelihood of a long and healthy playing career, both physically and psychologically.
Here are a few studies to back this up:
A study of Division 1 athletes showed (4):
Only 16.9% of them were specialized by Freshman year in high school
Only 41.1% were specialized by Senior year in high school
Another study showed (2):
Athletes who only play through high school specialize at 12.7 years old on average
Athletes who played in College specialized at age 14 or later
Only 22.3% of professional athletes said they would want their own child to specialize in only one sport during adolescence
Here is an article about Patrick Mahomes talking about how he refused to specialize in any one sport through high school. He played baseball, basketball and football and he is one of the most dynamic athletes we have ever seen. He didn’t specialize until his Sophomore season of College. Even then he kept playing pick up basketball until early 2019 when the Chiefs told him to knock it off.
Do we want to build the best 12 year old athlete or the best lifelong athlete?
Now that we have defined the problem and talked about its importance, what do we DO about it? Keep an eye out for PART 2 where I will discuss alternatives to sport specialization, what to do if/when an athlete does specialize and how athletes should be managed across their athletic career.
If you know a youth athlete who needs our help getting back to their best, check out our service offerings HERE.
We specialize in helping youth athletes deal with pain and get back in the game.
References:
Aspen Institute/Utah State University 2019 National Youth Sport Survey (1,032 youth sport parents)
Buckley et al. Early single sport specialization: a survey of 3090 high school, collegiate, and professional athletes. Orthopedic J Sports Med. 2017 Jul; 5(7)
Myer et al. Sport Specialization Part 1: Does early sport specialization increased negative outcomes and reduce the opportunity for success in young athletes? Sports Health; 7(5): 437-442
Post et al. High School sport specialization patterns of current Division I athletes. Sports Health. 2017 Mar/Apr; 9(2) 148-153