Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.
Facebook Youtube Instagram Linkedin Pinterest
Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram Linkedin Pinterest

Is Specializing In One Sport Good or Bad?

CoachesEducatorsParents

By Jamie Clark and Timothy Baghurst
Health and Human Performance, Oklahoma State University

Multiple different sports equipment on white background.A common discussion among parents, coaches, and athletes is how early youth athletes should specialize in a sport, or in a particular position in their sport.

The argument to specialize early seems logical: the more time a child dedicates to one sport, the greater their chances of developing elite-level talent. The opportunities to participate in year-round training are certainly there: offseason camps, club teams, school sports, high-performance teams, and private lessons are commonplace in most sports and parents and athletes can feel pressured to utilize every chance to further their development. But is early specialization really necessary for sport success?

Although early specialization in sport is becoming increasingly common, research of elite and professional athletes indicates that it is not a good idea: a broad multi-sport base during childhood is the common thread among successful athletes. There are many physical and social benefits to having a diverse sport experience, and there are also negative consequences of early specialization that can be avoided by encouraging young athletes to participate in multiple sports.

Below, we present a few points for parents (and even coaches) to consider as you help your athletes make decisions about specializing in sport.

 

Motor Skill Development

One of the most compelling reasons to play multiple sports is to improve the overall motor skill development in the child. Different sports teach different skill sets, and these skills are highly transferrable from one sport to another: the hand-eye coordination needed to bat in baseball may help an athlete transition easier into tennis; an overhead throw in soccer may teach a child to access their power in the overhead motion of the freestyle swim.

 

Diverse Socialization

Each sport has its own set of coaching, athlete, umpiring, and even spectator styles along with unique strategies, rules, and customs. By encouraging participation in more than one sport, athletes will be exposed to a diverse range of environments to perform in.

A child who plays tennis and basketball will learn to be self-managed during tennis matches and coach-led during basketball games. The athlete’s plan for shooting par on the 11th hole teaches different strategies than the team’s plan for keeping the ball away from the opposing team’s best midfielder. In the end, these diverse environments raise the sport and emotional intelligence of the child. While we should celebrate any sport for getting youth away from screen time, the multisport athlete will have even more face-to-face interactions with a diverse range of people and situations.

 

Better Preparation For Life After Sport

Of the thousands of young athletes currently logging hours and reps in their beloved sport, the reality is that only a very small percentage will make it to the elite or professional level.

For the rest, those hours of training and play will likely transfer into more intrinsic motivation for general exercise and life skills such as teamwork, communication, and discipline. Interestingly, most elite athletes have a multisport background and did not specialize into their top sport until middle teenage years. Perhaps this is an even better promotion of sport’s physical and social benefits.

 

Negative Aspects of Early Specialization

If playing sport at an elite level is the desired goal for the athlete, longevity is crucial. Acute injury will always be an inherent risk of sport participation, but overuse injuries are becoming more common and these repetitive motion injuries have been linked to early sport-specialization. It makes sense that the sooner an athlete begins to train and overuse a particular motion, the sooner the athlete may begin to experience chronic stress, such as ligament damage to a pitcher’s elbow. Athletes may benefit from a reduction in training volume and by playing another sport for part of the year to prevent losing their conditioning or competitive edge.

Year-round sport participation has also been linked to sport burnout, which can be extremely detrimental to the athlete’s career. Children and young adults may no longer enjoy sport or feel rewarded by it in the same way if they have been training intensively from a young age. Encouraging the athlete to stay involved in other sports may help the child keep or regain the enjoyment of sport participation.

 

When Should Specialization Occur?

Dan Gould, a board member of the Positive Coaching Alliance National Advisory, advises that specialization in a single sport should be delayed to age 14 or 15. Gould reports that in some sports, parents feel pressured to have the child specialize by age 6 or 7.

Non-profit Sport for Life suggests that we go through several developmental stages in sport participation, and that the age at which we progress through these stages may differ slightly depending on whether we are male or female. The stages include Active Start, FUNdamentals, Learn to Train, Train to Train, Train to Compete, Train to Win, and Active for Life. Like Dan Gould, they suggest that specialization only occur in the later teenage years.

—

Hearing of other children’s traveling team’s success, the stats of how great another parent’s young player is, or the “expert” personal coaching they have been receiving might cause temptation to follow suit. But take your time to consider the pros and cons when considering this decision. If you opt to sign up your child for a traveling team which eats up time, finances, and weekends, will that be fair to your other child(ren)?

Ultimately, it should be a family decision to do what is best for your young athlete. Keep an open and evolving conversation with your athlete about short- and long-term sport goals, and be willing to change course as the needs of the child change. Recognize that in almost every situation, specialization in a sport at a young age is likely to be more detrimental to the athlete than good.

To learn more about sport specialization, check out these resources from the Positive Coaching Alliance.

Related Content

Loading...
1 2 … 37

Join Us

Subscribe
Shop TrueSport
Host TrueSport

TrueSport logo without icon in white.

© 2025 TrueSport | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Sitemap

Goal-Setting Lesson Video Transcript

Hi. I’m Trevon, Trey, Jennifer. Team USA wheelchair basketball player, paralympian, and true sport athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about goal setting. And there are three things that I would like you to know. First, successful athletes set goals and a planned roadmap. Second, goals should be written down, assessed over time, and changed if necessary. And third, goals need to be challenging in order to be worthwhile. As a freshmen at Edinboro University, I was a part of a team that made the national championship game. And at that time I recognized I was the low man on the totem pole, but I felt in my heart that I knew my dreams were so much bigger than winning a national title. I wanted to make Team USA. I knew what achieving my lofty goal was not going to be easy and that I would need to work hard every day.

So, as a reminder, I created a pyramid of goals that I kept right above my bed. This pyramid reminded me of the accomplishments that I was working towards and visually represented my need to create a solid foundation underneath me before reaching the top. In the bottom roll of my pyramid of goals I listed goals such as obtaining my bachelor’s degree, becoming a scholar athlete award recipient, and becoming an All-American. The middle row listed winning a national title and playing for a professional team. And at the top row, the most challenging of them all, I listed becoming a gold medalist for Team USA.

By understanding that there are smaller stepping stones to achieving my ultimate goal of being on Team USA, I was able to stay motivated and to stay focused on completing the smaller stepping stones fully before moving onto the next one. Now I’ll be the first to admit that not every goal that I listed on my pyramid was accomplished, but seeing my goals every day when I went to bed, I was able to push through the days that I felt like doing nothing in hopes of achieving the bigger picture. Remember, create a clear goal roadmap, assess your goals often, and continue to challenge yourself. I hope that you never stopped dreaming big or reaching for the stars. And I look forward to seeing where your roadmap takes you.

Body Image Lesson Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Kara Winger, Olympic javelin thrower, and true sport athlete. Today I want to talk to you about body image and I have three things I’d like you to know. First, healthy thoughts often lead to healthier bodies. Second, there are varying body types and no one’s body is exactly like another. And third, true beauty goes deeper than the skin. As a multi-time Olympian, I’ve experienced a lot of variation and progression in my training. My coaches and I adapt to my training frequently, all with the goal of supporting my long-term success and health in the sport of javelin. I’m talking to you about body image today because sometimes even with the best of intentions and a common goal in mind, the changes you make to your training habits can prove to be detrimental if made for the wrong reasons. In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic trials, I was told in order to improve my performance on the field, I should try to become a leaner, skinnier version of myself.

So I changed my diet. I went along with what I was being told to do, even though I’d had great success at a slightly heavier weight and higher body fat percentage, and became much leaner than ever before. It seemed like a successful change at first, but I didn’t have nearly the results I’d had before. And I believe becoming leaner than my body naturally wanted to be was what caused my ACL to tear. In the end, it cost me heavily going into the 2012 London games. The takeaway for me, and hopefully for you, is that it’s important to know what works for you and your body and to not compare yourself to others. You should do your research and experiment with your diet to find what makes you feel the best, rather than focusing on what you look like. Today, if I feel like having a chocolate chip cookie, I have one, just not every day.

I’ve learned what a properly balanced meal for my body looks like and I recognize food as the fuel that keeps me throwing. I hydrate and allow myself time to recover. And I listen to and communicate with my body so that I can be the best version of myself. In the end, you are in control of how you see, treat, and respond to your body. We only get one and it’s amazing to discover how many things our bodies can do. Be a true sport athlete. Love who you are in this moment and get excited for all the places your body will take you.

A Good Sport Lesson Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Izy Isaksen, Team USA, Modern Pentathlon, Olympian, US Army Sergeant, and True Sport Ambassador. Today, I want to talk to you about being a good sport. There are three things I’d like you to know. First, real winners act the same toward their opponent, whether they win or lose. Second, follow the rules and be a gracious winner and respectful loser. And third, sportsmanship reveals your true character.

I started competing in Modern Pentathlon eight years after my older sister and three-time Olympian, Margaux Isaksen, began competing. I soon realized that people often compared the two of us. I would overhear spectators and teammates asking, “Who’s the better athlete,” and “Who’s going to beat the other.” Instead of letting outside pressures create a negative experience for us, I chose to practice winning and losing with grace and respect. I know that it would have been easy to let our hyper competitive mindset affect our relationship, but instead we decided to support and cheer for each other, regardless of our own performance. My experience of competing against and being compared to my older sister, taught me to focus on how to perform at my best, rather than putting wasted energy into wishing for others to fail.

I believe that sportsmanship reveals true character. So, no matter what situation I encounter during competition, I know it’s important to always treat people with respect and be a good sport. Remember, be a fierce competitor, find grace in all your victories and losses. And I hope to see you out there.

What Kind of Coach Do You Want to Be? Video Transcript

Edwin Moses: You’re a coach. Maybe what you want is very simple, for everyone to just run in the right direction, score for their own team, to try and try again and again. Maybe you want your athletes to become all stars. You want them to earn trophies, medals, win titles. You want them to reach the highest height their sport allows. And wanting all of that, of course, that’s good. But as every great coach discovers, developing a great athlete means nurturing, nurturing the even greater person within. Truth is, you have even more influence than you know.

You have the ability to affect even deeper change, to take what’s in your hands and do something even more extraordinary. You can be both the coach who provides the skills needed to win the game and the coach who helps them learn and succeed beyond the sport, to become all stars wherever they land in the future, and to enjoy their lives more now, because the confidence and courage they find working with you will stay with them when they need it the most. There are games to be won, lives to change. Coaches have the power to do both.

I’m Edwin Moses, and the lessons I’ve learned through sport have challenged me, guided me, and shaped my life forever. What kind of coach do you want to be?

THE SIMPLE TRUTH: DECODING THE SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

At first glance, dietary supplements look the same. They seem safe and healthy, but just because the label says a product is a dietary supplement, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. Unfortunately, you can’t tell whether a product is safe or not just by looking at the label. Most vitamins, minerals, fish oil, and other supplements containing nutrients are probably just fine, but supplements are not evaluated or approved by FDA before they are sold. Although it is rare for vitamins or minerals to be contaminated with drugs, there has been at least one case of a vitamin containing an anabolic steroid.

At the other extreme are products that contain drugs, stimulants, anabolic steroids, or other hormones. Even though these are not technically dietary supplements, many of them are labeled as supplements. For example, body-building products sometimes contain anabolic steroids or Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, known as SARMs, or other hormones. Some pre-workout or energy products contain illegal stimulants like DMAA, ephedra, or other amphetamine-like stimulants. Weight loss products might contain prescription drugs like sibutramine, or hormones, like human chorionic gonadotropin, also known as hCG. All natural or herbal sexual enhancement products might contain hormones or Viagra-like drugs. Products like these can harm your health and career, but they’re for sale online, in some nutrition stores, and they’re labeled as dietary supplements.

When you pick up a supplement, especially one that promises performance enhancement, you don’t know if it belongs in the “Mostly O.K.” pile or in the “Dangerous” pile. After all, two products might look the same, but one might contain just amino acids and other legitimate ingredients, while the other also contains anabolic steroids. Because of this, FDA has issued a warning about certain categories of supplements: body building products, weight loss products, and sexual enhancement products. Be extremely careful when considering a supplement in one of these categories. We strongly recommend that you avoid products in these categories.

Even when FDA tests supplements and finds dangerous ingredients, companies sometimes refuse to recall them. Sometimes, they simply repackage their product and continue selling it under a new name. Just because a product is on a store shelf doesn’t mean it is safe. You need to do your research and be an informed consumer. The dietary supplement industry is enormous. Supplements that appear to be safe could actually be dangerous products in disguise. If you use dietary supplements without doing your research, you may be taking serious risks with your health and your career. Please visit USADA’s Supplement 411 for more information about dietary supplements.