Youth Sport Specialization

Sport specialization has become increasingly the norm amongst young athletes. In order to provide clarity, specialization is seen when an athlete chooses to participate in 1 sport year-round and excludes all others (DiCesare et al., 2019). This isnt to be confused with an athlete who simply prefers one sport to all others but maintains participation primarily within the "traditional" season. A primary concern is that these specialized athletes will have an increased risk of burnout and injury compared to non specialized athletes. Contrarily, many parents and athletes believe that they need to specialize in order to excel, or due to pressure from coaches or other external sources. 

Research by DiCesare et al. (2019) showed that a large group of high school-aged volleyball-specialized females demonstrated increased coupling variability in their hip flexion and knee flexion amongst other motions than the athletes of the same demographic who also participated in basketball and soccer. This implies that the other sports may have helped the non-specialized athletes to develop more hip and knee stability than the athletes who only played volleyball year round. So there is a case for multilateral development and its seemingly ability to create more balanced development. In addition to joint variability it has been heavily researched and shown that specialized athletes are more prone to overuse injuries, especially throwing athletes (Zaremski, Zeppieri, & Tripp, 2019). Another concern is that early-specialized athletes are more prone to burnout, although Larson et al. (2019) showed that there was no positive relation to early specialization and burnout and dropout. 

Given all this information, why would a parent allow or even encourage sport specialization. DiSanti et al. (2019) showed that it has become the expectation of high school and club coaches that the athlete specialize. This pressure could even come in the form of a mild threat. A personal client has recently voiced her frustration with her son's high school that doesnt even allow for an athlete to play multiple sports without serious playing-time reductions and possibly being cut from the team. Also, it has become increasingly popular and expected that if the athlete isnt in an active season that they show up to "semi-mandatory" lifting sessions and practices all year. Some athletes may feel obligated to specialize so that they dont "lose their spot" on the team of their favorite sport. 

Another explanation is likely that parents and athletes think that playing year round is needed to get recruited to play at the collegiate level. Martin, Ewing and Oregon (2017) surveyed division 1 college athletes and found that there were no differences in the distribution of athletes who specialized to those who didnt. This suggests that you dont have to specialize to make it to the college level. In fact, research by DiFiori et al. (2019) showed that the deliberate practice theory, or the idea that the more you practice the more likely you are to play college ball, is not consistent and only tells half the tale. They suggest that an alternative model should be implemented that also accounts for genetic factors. This is because they found that a more positive indicator of whether or not an athlete was going to play college ball was the sport success of their parents. 

With all things considered, I believe that athletes should avoid specializing until at least high school. This is due to many factors. First, I dont think kids always know what they love to do that early. The mental health has to be considered and I have taken the approach to allow my daughter to continually try new sports that sound fun to her. I want her to know from experience which sports she likes, if any. I also agree with the research that suggest that multilateral development helps prevent injury and promotes balanced development. When I was being recruited to play football for Boise State, the coach always told me that he loved to see how a prospect moved while playing basketball and that he learned a lot about the prospects overall athleticism from watching them play other sports. Despite that, I currently have a niece and nephew who have both been offered division 1 scholarships to play basketball recently. When talking with my brother (former professional basketball player) he has repeatedly told me that his kids have been recruited more during their club seasons than they were during the traditional season. So there has been a shift in recruiting patterns. When I played (graduated in 2005), I was recruited and scouted during the season and during summer camps. But now, scouts want to see how you can measure up to the best athletes. Therefore, if an athlete is showing great potential I would suggest that they participate in that sport both during the traditional season and during the popular club season when they get to at least junior high. I would encourage them to play 1 other sport or to participate in a training program with a professional that can vary their stimulus and develop balance during their off season.

References

 DiCesare, C. A., Montalvo, A., Barber Foss, K. D., Thomas, S. M., Hewett, T. E., Jayanthi, N. A., & Myer, G. D. (2019). Sport specialization and coordination differences in multisport adolescent female basketball, soccer, and volleyball athletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 54(10), 1105–1114.

Zaremski, J. L., Zeppieri Jr, G., & Tripp, B. L. (2019). Sport specialization and overuse injuries in adolescent throwing athletes: A narrative review. Journal of Athletic Training (Allen Press), 54(10), 1030–1039.

Larson, H. K., Young, B. W., McHugh, T.-L. F., & Rodgers, W. M. (2019). Markers of early specialization and their relationships with burnout and dropout in swimming. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 41(1), 46–54.

DiSanti, J. S., Post, E. G., Bell, D. R., Schaefer, D. A., Brooks, M. A., McGuine, T. A., & Erickson, K. (2019). Exploring coaches’ perceptions of youth sport specialization: A comparison of high school and club sport contexts. Journal of Athletic Training (Allen Press), 54(10), 1055–1060.

Martin, E. M., Ewing, M. E., & Oregon, E. (2017). Sport experiences of Division I collegiate athletes and their perceptions of the importance of specialization. High Ability Studies, 28(2), 149–165.