Youth sports participation provides a number of benefits from physical fitness to social skills and beyond. But lately, “The Sandlot”-style pickup games with friends are few and far between. As the years go on, participation in sports has become more structured and organized, and there has been a more recent trend of specializing at younger ages.
Many believe that starting to focus on one sport early on will make kids more likely to get scholarships or reach dreams of “going pro.” The thought is that the earlier a child starts practicing a skill, the earlier they’ll become an expert at it. While following this trend might lead to joining more elite clubs or achieving success for their age group (think Little League World Series), there are a number of drawbacks. In fact, many times specializing at a young age can have the opposite of the desired effect. Despite popular belief, research is showing that keeping kids and young adolescents multi-sport athletes longer is more beneficial in the long run.
Injury Rates are Higher with Specialization
One of the most important differences between early specialization and diversification in youth sports is injury rates. Studies have found that specializing is strongly associated with an increased risk of injury at the youth and high school levels. For example, there’s currently an increase in adult injuries happening younger and younger—injuries such as ACL tears and Tommy John surgeries.
You might naturally think, “well it’s probably just that they’re spending more time playing a sport in general.” But the risk for injury isn’t as high in those who play multiple sports for the same overall amount of time, which says that there’s increased risk specifically due to specializing. And because sport specialization and high training volume go hand-in-hand, there’s an added higher risk of overuse injuries like patellar tendon issues and little league elbow.
Because young athletes still have open growth plates and their bones and cartilage haven’t matured, they’re vulnerable to the stress of high training volumes from working the same body structures over and over. Conversely, kids and adolescents who participate in multiple sports keep their fitness level up while varying the demands placed on their bodies. The variety in training not only disperses the stress to different areas of the body, but it also helps develop diverse muscular coordination patterns that can help protect against injury.
Multiple Sports Provide Social and Psychological Benefits
Playing multiple sports also has social and psychological benefits over specializing in one sport. For one, it allows a child to interact with different kinds of kids. It also allows them to play different roles on a team. She may be a starter on her volleyball team but rides the bench more during soccer. Learning to deal with adversity like that can make her a better competitor and teammate, as well as a more flexible and coachable athlete.
Playing multiple sports also helps reduce social isolation, especially if a kid’s main sport is an individual one like golf or figure skating. On top of that, participating in a number of sports and activities provides a lower risk of facing an identity crisis later on. Say you have a child whose whole life has been centered around being a star baseball player, but then he gets injured and can’t play at the same capacity anymore. With no other activities or interests, there’s a good chance he may really struggle with that loss. But someone who has continued to play a few sports would have other avenues to pursue and achieve success.
Further, specializing in one sport can put a lot of pressure on a young athlete—pressure that an older teen may be able to handle but a child or pre-teen may not have the coping skills to manage yet. Along with pressure comes the risk of burnout. Sports have been transforming from enjoyable and fun to anxiety-provoking, especially when specializing in one sport with the goal of a scholarship or reaching elite status. When a sport stops being fun and becomes a chore, a lot of kids end up quitting it prematurely. On the other hand, remaining a multi-sport athlete longer provides variety, which can keep interest in each sport higher and make a child less likely to tire of any of them. In that case, continued participation can make them more likely to reach success, as well as more likely to remain physically active into adulthood.
Multi-Sport Athletes Have Greater Professional Success
Now, you might recognize these risks of specializing in one sport, but believe that this is the sacrifice one must make in order to make it to “pro status”. But what if I told you that being a multi-sport athlete is also associated with greater professional success?
Studies show that specialization does not increase chances of becoming a professional athlete
A study by the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine found that specializing at a young age doesn’t actually increase the chances of achieving elite status in sports. Another study confirmed that, finding that reaching world-class success over national success is associated with participation in multiple sports with later specialization. Looking at our professional sports in the US, you’ll find a preference for multi-sport athletes as well. In the 2017 NFL draft, about 90% played multiple sports in high school, and picks from the first and second rounds had the highest percentage overall. Similarly, NBA players who were multi-sport athletes played in a greater percentage of games, were less likely to sustain an injury during their careers, and had longer professional careers in the NBA. Pro baseball players who were multi-sport athletes also played in more games and were less likely to suffer a major injury during their pro careers, just like with basketball. Less than half of the players in the MLB asked had specialized, and those who did waited until high school.
Professional athletes credit their success to playing multiple sports
This greater success seen in multi-sport athletes may be because they were exposed to a greater variety of activation and movement patterns. That basically means that their bodies were trained to move in many different ways, and skills can often be applied from one sport to another. In general, playing more than one sport promotes greater overall athleticism, speed, and agility. In fact, Drew Brees played many different sports as a kid. He has said that he personally believes kids specialize too soon nowadays and would benefit from playing multiple sports longer. Brees said that he credits tennis for a lot of his footwork in the NFL. He also credits baseball and basketball for the fundamentals and athletic movements that relate to his position as quarterback. In his opinion, all of the sports combined are what makes someone the athlete they are.
Exceptions to the Rule
Of course, there are some exceptions. Some sports require an early start and peak performance at a younger age, such as gymnastics, figure skating, and diving. In these cases, earlier specialization may be warranted. However, the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine says that sport diversification should be encouraged until late adolescence. Current evidence says it will minimize risks and lead to higher chances of athletic success.
What our DPTs Recommend for Young Athlete Success
Recommendations to reduce risks and promote long-term success include:
- Delay specialization in a single sport until late adolescence after puberty—about 15 or 16 years old.
- Participation on 1 team at a time or 1 organized sport per season; don’t compete for a club team and a school team at the same time. Or compete in 2 different sports in the same season.
- Allow at least 3 months off throughout the year from a particular sport to allow for recovery. You can do this in 1 month increments. Ideally, less than 8 months/year should be spent on one sport to reduce injury risk.
- Spend no more than the child or adolescent’s age in number of hours per week on organized sports. So if the child is 10, no more than 10 hours a week playing organized sports. If the teen is 16, they can spend up to 16 hours a week.
- At least 1-2 days per week of rest to allow the child’s body time to recover. And no participation in other sports or training on rest days.
- Spend time away from each organized sport or activity at the end of its competitive season! This will avoid injury and burnout.
When You Have To Specialize
Sometimes, however, a child is really only interested in one sport and has no desire to play any others. It’s important to make sure if/when specialization occurs, that it’s based on the child’s interests, and they aren’t doing it because they feel like they should. Talk with them about their goals to make sure they’re appropriate and realistic. This will also help them distinguish their personal goals from those of their parents, coaches, or other adults. If they really want to focus on one specific sport; there are still ways to reduce the risks associated with specialization.
- Limit the number of hours per week spent on training—the same rule above still applies. No more than their age in hours per week.
- Keep kids out of competition for an appropriate amount of time to avoid overuse injuries and burnout. Work on skill development rather than competition and intense training.
- Mental practice can really help out in this situation. That is—imagining themselves doing a particular drill in their mind without actually doing it. Research shows that going through the motions mentally activates the same parts of your brain as the physical activity. This can be just as valuable! It’s a great way to reinforce skills learned in a sport without the added stress on the body.
As the trend to specialize in one particular sport at a young age continues, we urge you to reconsider. Though it can lead to early, short-term success, it could also be counterproductive. Specialization can lead to an early end to a child or adolescent’s athletic career. Aiming for a possible scholarship or professional career? It appears that greater long-term success is associated with participation in multiple sports anyways.
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Whether you’re taking the multi-sport or specialty approach to youth sports, all athletes can benefit from our Sports Performance Therapies. Work 1-on-1 with an expert Doctor of Physical Therapy that specializes in your specific sport(s). Increase your speed, accuracy, and skill all while creating the foundation to avoid season-ending injury.
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