There are many benefits to being active and participating in sports at a young age. It allows children to gain confidence, learn leadership and teamwork skills, socialize and build friendships, all while having fun. Studies have even shown that active children are more likely to be healthier and continue to be active later in life, attend college, and be more successful in their work life. 

With all these positives, youth participation in sports seems to be no drawback. However, there has been a shift in our culture in how children play sports. The demands that both parents and coaches put on these young athletes have led to an increase in early sport specialization. 

Play was once youth-directed and for the pure enjoyment of the activity. The goals of play included having fun, socializing, and creating a love for the activity. In this free unstructured play time, children developed critical developmental motor skills. Today play has become more structured with goals focused on sport-specific skill development. This cultural shift in play has increased early sports specialization in our youth and decreased cross-training.

Keep reading to find out why cross-training is good for youth sports and the detrimental effects of early sport specialization. 

Article contents:

1. What is Early Sport Specialization?
2. The Dangers of Youth Sport Specialization
3. Perception of Early Sport Specialization
4. Research & Studies
5. Benefits of Cross-Training for Youth Athletes

What is Early (Youth) Sports Specialization?

Early sports specialization has been defined as “intensive year long (>8 months) training in a single sport at the exclusion of other sports.” The goal is to develop skills in one specific sport through very deliberate practice focusing on improving performance and enhancing the chances of playing at the elite level. 

The Dangers of Early Sport Specialization

Research shows that sports specialization in young athletes can be dangerous. A lack of diversity in sports participation can lead to the lost development of lifetime sports skills.

While the lack of focus on the enjoyment of physical activities likely contributes to deficits in current and long-term physical activity and health. 

1. Increased Training and Competition Loads
2. Mental Health Effects

Increased Training and Competition Loads

A major concern of early specialization is the increased training and competition loads. From a biomechanical standpoint, this leads to excessive exposure to few repetitive body movements without sufficient time for recovery. Intense focus on one sport and the specific motor skills needed can also cause young athletes to not develop important neuromuscular skills for other specific body regions that they would normally develop with participation in a diversity of activities.

This also does not allow enough rest to other regions, which has increased the risk of injury, especially those due to overuse. Studies show if sports specialization occurs too early in youth, comprehensive motor skill development may be stifled, increasing the risk of future injuries and potentially reducing opportunities for the athlete to achieve optimal sports performance. 

Mental Health Effects

Besides the physical toll that intense training can have on the body, early specialization can also be linked to an increased risk of burnout, anxiety, and depression. Intense training can sometimes lead to social isolation, greatly impacting the athlete’s identity.

Unrealistic expectations of coaches and parents can lead to the idea of perfectionism for the athlete, which can result in excessive psychological stress. This excessive stress can lead to poor coping skills, loss of motivation, mood disturbances, disordered sleep, mental health issues, and burnout. 

Perception of Early Sport Specialization

There is a perception that early sports specialization ensures future sports success. For these athletes, the biggest reason they specialize so early is due to the fear that if they don’t, they will never be competitive enough or be able to compete at an elite level.

The idea to specialize early and focus on one sport may also be pushed on athletes by their patients or coaches. This belief makes it very challenging to convince young athletes and their parents and coaches that diverse sports participation benefits an athlete’s health and performance. 

However, research on elite and near-elite athletes shows that those elite athletes specialized at a later age and not in childhood. For most sports, there is no evidence that intense training and specialization before puberty are necessary to achieve elite status.

While some degree of sports specialization is necessary to develop elite-level skill development, for most sports, such intense training in a single sport to the exclusion of others should be delayed until late adolescence. This should optimize success while minimizing injury, psychological stress, and burnout.

Research

Many sports medicine organizations recommend participating in multiple sports until physical maturation before pursuing a single-sport specialization. By this age, athletes have already honed the physical, psychological, and social skills necessary to effectively specialize in a single sport.

1. Certain sports like gymnastics, diving, and figure skating, are recommended to start specializing in early adolescence (12-14 years of age).

2. Team sports, tennis, and golf are recommended to specialize in middle adolescence (15-17 years of age).

3. Endurance sports such as track and distance events can begin specializing in late adolescence (18-20 years of age). 

Although the recommended level of intensity was not specified, most organizations advised youth athletes to take more than 1 month off from their sport in a year, potentially pursue fewer weekly training hours than their age, and have a good support system both in sport and at home to reduce the psychological effects of intense training. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Athletic Training Association recommend specialized athletes take at least 3 non-consecutive months off in 1-month intervals each year. The American Academy of Pediatrics also advises young athletes to take 1 to 2 days off per week to ensure adequate recovery.

These athletes should also discuss their sports aspirations with appropriate personnel and assess the practicality of these goals. Specializing in a single sport should plan periods of isolated and focused integrative strength training to enhance diverse motor skill development and reduce injury risk factors.

Benefits of Cross-Training for Youth Athletes

Sports medicine organizations support early sports sampling and cross-training because it encourages a healthy life balance along with a strong social support system to combat these potential adverse effects to stress.

Early exposure to various sports is thought to promote longer-term success in and enjoyment of sports. It also allows athletes to identify which sport best fits their interests, physique, and capabilities for later specialization in young athletes. Most importantly, movement diversity through cross-training allows young athletes to acquire a broader range of neuromuscular patterns that may be protective against overuse injury.

The overall psychological benefits of sports sampling by high school seniors included academic success, better nutritional habits, and less likelihood of engaging in addictive behavior. Without an opportunity to “sample” different sports during childhood, young athletes are less likely to acquire the foundational physical, psychosocial, and cognitive skills important for long-term sports success.

Studies have shown that intense training may result in injury when weekly hours of sports participation exceed a child’s age and the total weekly hours exceed 16. However, this only includes single sport-specific training and not cross-training or unorganized free play. Data seems to indicate that unstructured free play may potentially have a protective effect from serious overuse injury.

Year-round participation in a single sport is the leading reason for the increased risk of injuries in specialized athletes. One study of high school athletes found that athletes who did not take at least 1-sport season off during the year (eg, fall, winter, spring, or summer) were more likely to sustain an injury independent of whether the athlete was characterized as a single or multi-sport athlete.

Takeaways: Early Sports Specialization

As we wrap up this blog, here are a few takeaways regarding early-sports specialization:

1. Parents and educators need to provide opportunities for free unstructured play to improve motor skill development and encourage youth to participate in a variety of sports during their growing years to influence the development of diverse motor skills. 

2. Specialization of a single sport ideally should not occur until an athlete is physically mature. However, for those who choose to specialize in a single sport regardless of age, intense training and specialized sports should be closely monitored for burnout, overuse injury, or potential limitations in performance due to overtraining. 

3. Lastly, evidence indicates that all youth involved in periodized strength and conditioning and sports sampling assist in preparation for the demands of competitive sports participation and reduces the risk of injury.

As always, thanks for reading! If you have more questions about youth sports, early sport specialization in young athletes, and cross-training the Physical Therapists at Move Strong Physical Therapy are happy to answer them.

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Jayanthi, N., Pinkham, C., Dugas, L., Patrick, B., & Labella, C. (2013). Sports specialization in young athletes: evidence-based recommendations. Sports health, 5(3), 251–257. 

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