Early specialization: An expensive gamble?

If you want your kid to become a superstar athlete, when should they specialize in that particular sport?

It’s a question that often generates heated discussion among coaches and sport parents. All too often, in most sports, children are pushed to specialize too early.

Too many coaches and parents push kids to focus on one sport long before secondary school in the belief that they will “miss out” if they don’t. The thinking is that they need to “get ahead” by putting in the extra hours and staying away from other sports.

Meanwhile, the research suggests that specializing too early probably prevents most kids from reaching their full potential in their sport. 

So, how exactly could specialization reduce their success?

It’s connected to physical literacy and the need to develop a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional skills within sport. When researchers look at top athletes across a range of sports, the majority of them are distinguished by broad athletic ability from playing a variety of sports as children. This doesn’t happen when kids specialize in one sport from an early age.

(We could also talk about overuse injuries and issues with growth and the fact that premature specialization is also linked to kids dropping out of sports early – we’ll leave that for another day…)

Too many sports academies will gladly take your money, with the promise of giving your young kid a head start toward stardom. They’ll attempt to develop complex skills your kid is not ready for, in an environment that is unlikely to be suitable to justify their fees.

So, whether you have ambitions of them turning professional, or just playing for fun, give your kids the best start by developing their physical literacy and fundamental movement skills first. Once they have the necessary skills they may find their passion themselves!