A study published in the journal Sports Health found that “for most sports, there is no evidence that intense training and specialization before [age 13 or 14] are necessary to achieve elite status. Risks of early sports specialization include higher rates of injury . . . and quitting sports at a young age.”
How big is the risk of injury if you specialize in one sport? A Loyola University Chicago study of 1,200 youth athletes found that kids who specialized in one sport were 70 percent to 93 percent more likely to be injured than multi-sport athletes.That’s a lot.
Kids who specialize in one sport also get burned out. An Ohio State University study found that kids who played a single sport were more likely to quit their sport and be physically inactive as adults.
There are a ton of studies and articles published stating the benefits of being a multi sport athlete such as the above and virtually none extoling the virtues of being a " specialized' athlete.
BEFORE 13-14!! The discussion was around high school sports. You make yourself look foolish when you cite a study that actually supports the opposite position. Read it again ... "A study published in the journal Sports Health found that “for most sports, there is no evidence that intense training and specialization before [age 13 or 14] are necessary to achieve elite status." Implying that after age 13-14 (high school for most but maybe u started at 16?) to achieve elite status specialization actually could be important. Nice job genius.
Yeah, and studies that show smoking is bad for pre-teens imply that it is good for high school and college kids.
Every study that addresses sports specialization has been done with regard to "early specialization" as defined as youth sports, as this one was. I get it tho, your daughter isn't very good at sports. It's ok. She should try the flute.
Moving on ... Many spots already filled at the top schools. When does the next tier start ramping up? Is it fair to say that the vast majority of top 40 D1 programs will be done/almost done by spring high school season?
If you listen to people on this site you would think that all D1 recruiting is done before entering 10th grade. Having been to many schools and talked to many coaches that is not even remotely close to accurate, for a very small handful of the aggressive recruiting schools maybe. I was surprised by many coaches who only start recruiting in 10th. Don't let the people on this site scare you, plenty of oppurtunity exists later in the process. Your top 50 -100 recruits may go quick, but not everybody is in a rush to commit including many coaches.
