Let’s start off by defining “Early Sport Specialization”. According to Meyer, et al., this is defined as a child that spends at least 8 months per year playing, training, or practicing only one sport. This has been heavily debated for the last decade or so, but let’s take a deeper dive into some pros and cons of this phenomenon.
There gets to be a time in the kid’s career (usually in high school, sometimes earlier), where they start specializing in one sport that they may want to play in college/professionally. Some people think this is a good idea, some people don’t – this is an example of a debate amongst people with a lot of caveats. If the athlete only has an interest in one sport and wants to play only that sport, it is good for them that they find something that they love. However, if they are playing on 3 different club/tournament teams, school teams, practices, and showcases year-round – we really shouldn’t be surprised if that kid eventually gets injured. Unfortunately, injuries do happen in sports as much as we try to prevent them. With sports, comes risk. Period. Refer again to Meyer, et al. regarding risk of injury.
For a younger child, playing multiple sports creates a better all-around athlete in those key developmental years. The specific demands of different sports require the athlete to utilize many principles and systems that make them “athletic”. With early sport specialization, the athlete may become extremely proficient in the demands of the sport, but really lack in other areas compared to other athletes.
Some people would argue that the athlete must specialize at some point to become better at their sport compared to other players. This exclamation is very athlete/child dependent. Everybody knows those athletes that are naturally gifted. Those kids that can pick up a sport at a late age or on a whim and be the best person on the field, floor, ice, etc. Those kids probably won’t have to focus so much on the specialization piece. The athletes that may not be as naturally gifted and talented may require extra work and specialization in their sport to make it to the next level.
Let’s dive back into the risk of injury with early sport specialization. Our lovely friend Meyer, et la. comes in handy again. The most common injury in kids that specialize early is an “overuse injury”. One of many examples of this is a baseball player who focuses on a heavy workload for months out of the year without playing any other sport. Unless there is an exact program for them to follow that greatly reduces injury, the number of throws throughout the year can cause potential elbow and shoulder pain. The UCL and shoulder take a beating if there is not a proper program in place. There are hundreds of articles that dive deeper into this topic. To reduce these injuries, it is important for the athlete to take a break to let their body recover or play multiple sports to change the demands on the body.
This is a debate that may not have one correct answer for every single athlete. Again, this is very situational dependent. The most important thing throughout this whole process is making sure the CHILD does what they want to do as far as playing multiple sports or specializing. The last thing any parent, coach, or athlete wants is to get burnt out and not want to play sports ever again. Sports are an amazing way to gain friends, teach life lessons, and help the athlete learn more about themselves. Let’s never forget about the kids in this situation and do everything in our power to do what is right for them.
Regardless if your child has specialized in one sport or is a multi-sport athlete, injury prevention and taking care of injuries are vital to your child’s health. If you have questions about this, reach out to Jake to learn how a performance physical therapist can keep your child healthy and active in their favorite activites!
Source:
Myer GD, Jayanthi N, Difiori JP, et al. Sport Specialization, Part I: Does Early Sports Specialization Increase Negative Outcomes and Reduce the Opportunity for Success in Young Athletes? Sports Health. 2015;7(5):437-442. doi:10.1177/1941738115598747
