During the summer of 2014, I had the privilege of assistant coaching for the prep club track team that I once ran for, which was being led by my high school coach. Considering the age of the athletes we were working with, six to 12, the head coach did a tremendous job of creating the perfect balance between doing everything possible to prepare the athletes for potential collegiate careers in the long run, while at the same time keeping in perspective the fact that we were still working with children. Unfortunately, not all coaches and parents are able to achieve this same middle ground of understanding.
Spending the summer attempting to emulate my coach’s charismatic nature in the way he guided his athletes to the best of their potential at various track meets and practices, I had the distasteful experience of witnessing countless other coaches and parents howling at their children about trivial matters such as attacking a curve incorrectly or failing to execute a race strategy properly, you know, because things like that matter when you’re six years old. In addition to the obvious psychological damage that took place in those instances, another huge problem was prevalent — early specialization.
As a parent, I’m sure witnessing your child excel rapidly and be much better than their peers on account of their early specificity is a great feeling, but that doesn’t exclude them from the possible dangers of burnout in the long run. Many studies have been conducted to determine the effects of early specialization on athletes, and most of them have turned out negative. The chart summarizes some of the most prevalent negatives of early specialization and also points out of the many positives of late specialization.
When children fail to train all of the biomotor capacities or compete in a way in which all are not addressed correctly, there is a large likelihood that the development of their motor skills will be severely limited (1). For example, in the world of Little League Baseball, in certain cases there is a lot of early specialization taking place. With an excessive number of games played each year in addition to the need for highly specific training to take place in order to compete with the best, many of the athletes are at high risk. Additionally, specialization during significant growth periods can lead to an increased risk of injuries, which are significantly worse during the developmental years (2).
The best thing a parent or coach can do for a young promising athlete is to build them up with a strong multilateral base that will eventually lead to much more worthwhile achievements. There’s nothing wrong with an athlete being highly active at a young age, the problem occurs when the actively is too sport-specific. Additionally, building a strong base can lead to adaptions that are caused by one sport, which later prove to be useful in another. In other words, transferable skills. At the end of the day, there is no worthwhile prize for being a star child athlete. Sure, people will talk, the kid might make the cover of some sports magazine, but that’s about it. It’s better to hold off on the crazy training regimes and build up an athlete in a way that allows them to see their best days when they are older, followed by days when colleges are sending them scholarship offers and Nike is offering them a professional contract. Yes, a bit of a long shot, but a much shorter shot when done correctly.
References:
- WIERSMA, L. D. (2000). Risks and benefits of youth sport specialization: Perspectives and recommendations. Pediatric Exercise Science, 12, 13 22.
- DALTON, S. E. (1992). Overuse injuries in adolescent athletes. Sports Medicine, 13, 58 70
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