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. 2013 May;5(3):251-7.
doi: 10.1177/1941738112464626.

Sports specialization in young athletes: evidence-based recommendations

Neeru Jayanthi  1 , Courtney Pinkham  2 , Lara Dugas  2 , Brittany Patrick  3 , Cynthia Labella  4
Affiliations

Sports specialization in young athletes: evidence-based recommendations

Neeru Jayanthi et al. Sports Health. 2013 May.

Abstract

Context: Sports specialization is intense training in 1 sport while excluding others. Sports specialization in early to middle childhood has become increasingly common. While most experts agree that some degree of sports specialization is necessary to achieve elite levels, there is some debate as to whether such intense practice time must begin during early childhood and to the exclusion of other sports to maximize potential for success. There is a concern that sports specialization before adolescence may be deleterious to a young athlete.

Evidence acquisition: PubMed and OVID were searched for English-language articles from 1990 to 2011 discussing sports specialization, expert athletes, or elite versus novice athletes, including original research articles, consensus opinions, and position statements.

Results: For most sports, there is no evidence that intense training and specialization before puberty are necessary to achieve elite status. Risks of early sports specialization include higher rates of injury, increased psychological stress, and quitting sports at a young age. Sports specialization occurs along a continuum. Survey tools are being developed to identify where athletes fall along the spectrum of specialization.

Conclusion: Some degree of sports specialization is necessary to develop elite-level skill development. However, for most sports, such intense training in a single sport to the exclusion of others should be delayed until late adolescence to optimize success while minimizing injury, psychological stress, and burnout.

Keywords: adolescents; children; exercise; intense training; overtraining.

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Conflict of interest statement

The following authors declared potential conflicts of interest: Neeru Jayanthi, MD, received a grant from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, and received honoraria and travel/expenses from United States Tennis Assocation (Player Development) for lectures and expenses and travel/expenses for serving on the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Board of Directors; Brittany Patrick received a grant from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine; Cynthia LaBella, MD, received a grant from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, and received honoraria for lectures given at AAP NCE, received royalties for published work, and received AAP COSMF executive committee travel expenses.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Relationship of injury to exposure hours in high school athletes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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