As a youth sport coach, I have always been interested in the question – do young athletes need to specialize early to reach an elite level of sport? Or are athletes able to play a variety of sports and still reach an elite level? For the purpose of this blog, most research defines specialization as – athletes who either a) choose a main sport, (b) participate for greater than 8 months per year in 1 main sport, or (c) quit all other sports to focus on 1 sport (1).
I think we see a lot of early specialization in our society, especially with sports like hockey. Skills in hockey aren’t overly transferable to many other sports – what other sports do we play on skates? I know my brother was told when he started playing AA Bantam that he wasn’t allowed to play any other sports because if he got injured he could lose his spot playing on his hockey team. That’s a pretty big commitment to only play one sport when you are in Grade 8. And my brother would be out of the norm now. I see 8 year old kids playing hockey all year round – spring league, then playing all summer and winter. Now, I get it – some kids love the game and live for the game. I appreciate that, it’s the reason we want them to play sports – to have fun, make friends and maybe, just maybe, if they are incredibly gifted they make their favourite sport into their dream job. The last point is unlikely for most children to achieve, but everybody has a dream right?!
The power law of practice states that becoming an elite athlete requires 10 years or 10,000 hours of practice (2). So, for sport, you would suspect that if you can put 10,000 hours of practice in you can become an elite athlete. Unfortunately, this is not a linear rule – some people will play a sport for 10,000 hours and not become an elite athlete and others will spend less hours practicing and make it. So many other factors lead into reaching an elite level – natural athleticism, circumstances, personality, intelligence, injury, politics, and the list goes on. There are so many moving parts that it is impossible to realize who will be the elite athletes, who will be the regular kids, and who will make it to collegiate level sport.
I think it is very tempting to want to put kids in 1 sport year round. Many people have big dreams for them and want them to play the sport they love at a competitive level. I want to make an argument for getting your kids in a variety of activities and that it might have more benefits to them instead of playing just one sport.
Why choose early sport diversification?
- Overall research has shown that intense training and specialization before puberty does not increase likelihood of achieving elite status in sport (3).
- If children are so focused on one sport, they can fail to develop a variety of movement patterns (2). This could impact their future participation in physical activity as an adult (2). They have limited experience with other sports and may not play them into adulthood. And believe it, if you have more movement patterns, you tend to be a better athlete! Why is the farm kid usually stronger than the town kid even though the town kid lifts weights with a trainer on a regular basis? Farm kids have more movement experience and patterns – ie throwing hay bales, working on farm machinery, carrying 5 gallon pails, etc. They have developed strength in a variety of patterns in which the other child has only had limited movement experience. CrossFit is a great avenue to develop a variety of movement patterns to help contribute to success in sport!
- Early specialization can lead to repetitive overuse injuries (1). Higher training volumes, with less rest and repetitive movements without diversification, all seem to contribute to the higher rate of injury (4).
- Research shows that the rate of burnout in sports is higher in children who specialize in one sport early (4). Kids can lose enjoyment in their favourite sports and end up quitting all together.
There is a time and a place for specialization in sport. But, in my opinion, children should be involved in a variety of activities and sports before puberty. Ideally, it would be great for them to continue with a variety of activities throughout high school as well. Developing fundamental movement patterns are so important to future physical activity participation and hopefully to continue with sport activities for life! That is my goal for everyone I meet; continue with activity because you enjoy it and then staying active for life won’t be a chore – it will become part of your lifestyle. So, overall, give your kids more opportunity to have fun and learn a variety of skills. It will serve them well for life!
This is one of my favourite topics, so if you see me out and about and want to talk about this, I would love to pick your brain!
– Charlene, PT
- Myer GD, Jayanthi N, Difiori JP, Faigenbaum AD, Kiefer AW, Logerstedt D, Micheli LJ. Sport specialization, part I: does early sports specialization increase negative outcomes and reduce the opportunity for success in young athletes?. Sports Health. 2015 Sep;7(5):437-42
- Baker J. Early specialization in youth sport: A requirement for adult expertise?. High ability studies. 2003 Jan 1;14(1):85-94.
- Jayanthi N, Pinkham C, Dugas L, Patrick B, LaBella C. Sports specialization in young athletes: evidence-based recommendations. Sports health. 2013 May;5(3):251-7.
- Kutz, M, and Secrest, M. Contributing factors to overtraining in the adolescent multi-season/sport athlete. Strength and Conditioning Journal 31(3): 37-42, 2009