Purpose-built for physicians
PARK CITY, Utah — Due to the physical and psychological risks associated with early sport specialization, a presenter at the International Extreme Sports Medicine Congress said not all young athletes should specialize in a sport early.
“The key for sports for kids is that we want to make sure we are encouraging healthy activity across a lifespan,” Jordan D. Metzl, MD, from Hospital for Special Surgery, told Healio. “The risk of specialization in sport is that we are trying to put a lot of resources and a lot of pressure in a small number of kids, and that can sometimes work against the idea of encouraging them to be active for their whole lives.”
In his presentation, Metzl said research has shown that most Olympic and elite level athletes did not specialize early but instead waited until their teens to specialize. While specializing in a sport early can help an athlete become better at the sport and provides a structured lifestyle, Metzl said “the vast majority of kids do multiple sports. Later specialization equated to better performance and multisport before age 14 was the No. 1 predictor of reaching international level efficiency.”
Young athletes who specialize in sports early have a shortened career longevity as well as higher risk for injury and burnout. When discussing sport specialization with parents and athletes, Metzl said physicians should encourage multiple sports throughout the year and the prioritization of “intrinsic motivation and enjoyment.”
