Early sports specialization
Premature emphasis on a single sport is associated with physical injuries, mental health problems, and psychosocial harm to young athletes.
[1] Many young athletes who are pushed to excel in a single sport quit playing prematurely, or are forced to stop because of injuries.
[7] While this is more than a casual recreational player, who might attend a gymnastics class for an hour or two a week, it is less than some young athletes have been pushed to do.
[12] Early sports specialization is encouraged by parents, paid coaches, and other people, some of whom hope to produce the next star athlete, rather than by the children or teenagers.
[2][3][10] The willingness of travel leagues to take children as young as age 7 increases the risk of early sports specialization.
[6] Playing multiple sports may improve performance through development of foundational transferable athletic skills.
[2][6][9] Only a very small minority of US high school athletes play at the college level, and even fewer are hired by a professional team.
[6][9] Youth athletes in high school say they are also motivated by doing the sport they enjoy the most, that they are best at, and that they believe will win them a college scholarship.
[11] Teenagers who spend more than 16 hours per week in an organized training program are at the highest risk of injury.
[6][11] Another significant risk factor for overuse injury is the number of hours spent in practice, relative to other activities and the youth's age.
[6][4] For example, for a 10-year-old athlete, the maximum amount of time spent in organized sporting activities (including all team practices and all games for all sports as well as all independent practice assigned by the coach or other adult) should not exceed a total of 10 hours per week, and the player should also spend a minimum of five hours per week in self-directed, freely chosen, independent play, such as climbing trees or playing with other children on a playground.
[8] For example, baseball players who play year-round are at risk for Tommy John surgery (ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction).
[21] Young athletes' bones may not reach skeletal maturity until as late as age 22 in males, and the strong loads put on their more flexible bones through long hours of practice and intense competitions can result in problems such as cam deformities in the hips of American football players .
[3] In other cases, the young athletes' concern about missing the opportunity to show off in front of a scout causes them to balk at the necessary time for rest and recovery, and can push them into playing more intensively, which puts them at higher risk of an injury.
[6][10] Some sports, such as youth baseball, have recommended evidence-based limits on some activities, such as pitching, that are associated with overuse injuries.
[11][14] Other physical effects include: Time to rest is essential for youth athletes who have chronic medical conditions, such as asthma, anemia, or diabetes.
[9] The social, emotional, and mental effects include stress, losing interest in the sport, and an imbalanced lifestyle that has long-term consequences for the young athlete.
[2][11] Early sports specialization reduces motivation and enjoyment, making it less likely that a promising child or younger teenager will become an elite athlete.
[22] Adult elite athletes, such as competitors in the Olympic Games, are more likely to have joined a variety of sports teams when they were younger.
[22] Early sports specialization frequently puts the youth athlete at risk for physical and mental burnout, which worsens performance.
[11] The training approaches and coaching practices that are common to or effective for elite adults are frequently ineffective for children and adolescents, especially when considered from a long-term perspective.
[11] Athletes who specialize in a single sport or are pushed into intense training are at high risk of quitting.
[3][9] At the other end of the spectrum, most athletes playing lacrosse, American football, and field hockey did not specialize in a single sport until age 17 or later.
[7] Sports such as ice hockey, swimming, gymnastics, and baseball are high risk for causing overuse injuries in youth who specialize in them early.
[8][11] Some techniques, such as the kick serve in tennis, are high risk for causing injuries due to their biomechanics.
[12] Tennis is a sport with early specialization and the risks that go with it, including promising young athletes dropping out.
[13] The International Olympic Committee encourages youth athletes not to specialize in a single sport until after puberty.
[8] Many groups discourage young athletes from participating in organized sports activities for more than a total of 16 hours per week, due to the high risk of injury.
