The Negative Physical and Mental Effects of Early Sport Specialization

Are you an athlete who is considering specializing in one sport? 

 Are you a parent or coach who is wondering if this is the right decision for your athlete or child to make?

Keep reading on to find out more information on early sports specialization and the negative outcomes!

Introduction

With the increase in youth sport participation in the past decade, specialization has become more prevalent, increasing the risk for mental and physiological illnesses and injuries. Most studies revealed a broad overall consensus on the negative outcomes that associate with early sport specialization. These similarities included an increase in burnout rate, psychosocial, and physiological negative outcomes.

Important terms to know:

1.    Sport Specialization: year-round, intensive training in one particular sport with the exclusion of all other sports and activities.

2.    Early Specialization: participating in one sport before the age of 12

3.    Burnout: when and athlete experiences overwhelming exhaustion from overtraining and competition, leading to resentment or loss of interest in the sport.

4.    Sport Sampling: Participating in more than one sport throughout the year 

According to the research...

Sport sampling and year-round sport participation is more important for athletic development than early specialization:

• Athletic performance and physical condition increased due to the skill transfer between the sports.
• Year-round and sport sampling reported more benefits than single sport specialization.
• Psychosocial increased social diversity among multi- sport athletes, specifically team-sport athletes compared to single sport athletes. 

Early specialization is NOT needed to be successful at the collegiate or elite level:

• NCAA Division I athletes reported that specialization occurred at age 14 or 15, which is not considered early specialization, as that would be before age 12. 
• Elite athletes reported to specialize later on in their athletic careers than non-elite athletes.
• Former elite or collegiate athletes are less likely to allow their children to specialize early on.

Athletes who specialize early in one sport are more likely to have negative psychological effects than athletes that sample in different sports:

• Athletes who participate in one sport have an increase of stress, anxiety, and depressive disorders compared to athletes in multiple sports.
• Burnout, as an effect of early specialization, results in athletes quitting sport all together. 
• Social isolation is a result of high training volumes associated with specialization. 

Practical applications

From the research presented, clinicians, coaches and players should:

• Review the recommendations on sport specialization to determine whether it is in the athlete's best interest to specialize and if it is practical only participate in one sport.
• Inform others on the recommended training volumes for peak mental wellbeing, which is 14 hours of sports per week.
• Provide athletes with mental health resources and outreach programs if they are struggling with their mental wellbeing.

Other Resources:

1. Click here for more information on Burnout in Athletes from the National Athletic Trainers association: https://www.nata.org/blog/beth-sitzler/burnout-athletes
2. To find out more about the importance of sports sampling, click here: https://www.nfhs.org/articles/regardless-of-future-direction-multiple-sportsactivities-is-best-choice/

About the Author

Lauryn Davis is a Senior at Westfield State University, majoring in Sports Medicine and Human Performance, with a concentration in Sports Medicine. Lauryn is a four-year veteran on the Women's Soccer team and has a background in coaching soccer for youth teams. She has plans obtain a National EMT license, as well as attend a graduate Physician's Assistant program following graduating in 2023. 

 

References:

Brenner, J. S., LaBotz, M., Sugimoto, D., & Stracciolini, A. (2019). The psychosocial implications of sport specialization in pediatric athletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 54(10), 1021-1029.

 

DiFiori JP, Benjamin HJ, Brenner JS, Gregory A, Jayanthi N, Landry GL, Luke A. (2014). 

Overuse injuries and burnout in youth sports: a position statement from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. Br J Sports Med. 2014;48(4):287-8. Epub. doi:

10.1136/bjsports-2013-093299. PubMed PMID: 24463910.

Myer GD, Jayanthi N, Difiori JP, et al (2015). Sport Specialization, Part I: Does Early Sports 

Specialization Increase Negative Outcomes and Reduce the Opportunity for Success in Young Athletes? Sports Health.;7(5):437-442. doi:10.1177/1941738115598747

 

Pantuosco-Hensch, L. (2010). Perceptions of collegiate student-athletes about their youth sport specialization or diversification process. Journal of Coaching Education, 3(3), 83-116.

 

Rugg, C. M., Coughlan, M. J., Li, J. N., Hame, S. L., & Feeley, B. T. (2021). Early sport specialization among former National Collegiate Athletic Association Athletes: trends, scholarship attainment, injury, and attrition. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 49(4), 1049-1058.

Waldron, S., DeFreese, J. D., Pietrosimone, B., Register-Mihalik, J., & Barczak, N. (2018). Exploring early sport specialization: Associations with psychosocial outcomes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 14(2), 182-202.