Early Sport Specialization

Popular culture pushes the idea that to succeed at sports, children need to know at a very early age what sport they want to commit themselves to for the rest of their lives in order to get that future scholarship or to reach the professional ranks.

While there are a few athletes that have benefited from early specialization, there are more studies coming out that show that it doesn't necessarily give your child an edge and can often be bad for their physical and mental health.

Many pediatricians agree that children should be participating in a variety of activities in order to develop a wider range of skills and to help them become a well-rounded athlete.  Playing a variety of different sports throughout the year is a form of cross-training that is extremely beneficial to a young body's physical development.

Common issues with early specialization:

Overuse Injuries - Using the body the same way over and over again can lead to stress fractures, tendonitis and growth plate injuries that occur when the body uses repetitive motion and is not allowed to rest. 

Burnout - occurs when athletes push their bodies too hard with little or no recovery period.

Early retirement from training and competition - Sometimes young athletes can get so discouraged by injuries, burnout and competition that they lose all interest because they no longer find the sport enjoyable. 

The recommended age for sport specialization is around 12 or 13 years of age and until then children should be encouraged to participate in a variety of sports and overall, have some fun.

References from the SIRC Collection

1. Callender S. The Early Specialization of Youth in Sports. Athletic Training & Sports Health Care: The Journal For The Practicing Clinician. November 2010;2(6):255-257. 
2. Capranica L, Millard-Stafford M. Youth Sport Specialization: How to Manage Competition and Training?. International Journal Of Sports Physiology & Performance. December 2011;6(4):572-579. 3. DiFiori J. Evaluation of Overuse Injuries in Children and Adolescents. Current Sports Medicine Reports (American College Of Sports Medicine). November 2010;9(6):372-378 
4. Jones L, Petlichkoff L. Early Sport Specialization Versus Quality Physical Education. Chronicle Of Kinesiology & Physical Education In Higher Education. May 2008;19(2):5-7. 
5. Malina R. Early Sport Specialization: Roots, Effectiveness, Risks. Current Sports Medicine Reports (American College Of Sports Medicine. November 2010;9(6):364-371. 
6. Wiersma L. Risks and benefits of youth sport specialization: perspectives and recommendations. / Benefices et risques de la specialisation sportive des jeunes: perspectives et recommandations. Pediatric Exercise Science. February 2000;12(1):13-22.

Let kids play!

Most experts agree that Canadian children need to increase their physical activity. We also know that organized sport can help achieve that.  However, concentrating on one sport or putting too much focus on winning may lead to kids dropping out of sport altogether.

A recent survey has shown that the main reason that kids drop out of sport is that they just aren't having fun anymore. While competition definitely has its place, a lot of children may feel unwanted pressure to perform rather than the working on skill development or just enjoying themselves.

Unstructured game time or an increased focus on practice time instead of competition is important in order for a child to:

• Create their own passion for their sport
• Transfer what they are learning into a game
• Prevent boredom and/or burnout
• Give them an opportunity to explore other sports and harness other skills
• Allow them to be social and have fun 

Set realistic expectations for young ones; the opportunity to dribble, pass, or shoot is way more appealing than sitting on the bench or standing in the outfield waiting for the ball to come you. Create skills challenges or mini-games and work them into your practice. Remember to offer encouragement and support if a player doesn't quite get the skill you are trying to teach.

Young children need a positive environment where players can learn the game at their own pace. Focusing on skill development and adding in the fun could make the biggest difference for a child forming a lifelong passion for sport.

References from the SIRC Collection:

1. Average Canadian kid gets about 8½ hours of screen time a day. Active Living. May 2012;21(3):26.
2. Aylward L. Let the Kids Play. Golfdom. November 2006;62(11):24-31.
3. Barrell M. When Can I Play Again? Getting Kids' Competition Right!. Australian Tennis Magazine: Asia & The Pacific. October 2011;36(10):60.
4. Howe B. Let the kids play...the top reasons why kids drop out of soccer. Down-The-Line. 2001;(4)
5. Melville S. Will kids be kids? Is play something that children do, or is it now something that must be provided for them?. Leisure Manager. August 1997;15(4):35-36.
6. Weinerth J. 4 v. 4: more passes, more fun. Survey shows involvement of players is far greater in small-sided games. Soccer Journal. January 2004;49(1):29-30.
7. Young C. The Importance of Putting the Fun Back In to Youth Sports. ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal. November 2012;16(6):39-40.

Preventing Burnout in Children

Burnout in sport is defined as “physical/emotional exhaustion, sport devaluation, and reduced over-training and by competing too often. This is an important issue in youth sports because it often leads to dropping out of sport completely.  Participation in sport offers many benefits to children and with so many people leading sedentary lifestyles, it's becoming even more important to keep our kids engaged in sport.

The good news is that burnout can be avoided.  Knowing what to look for and how to approach a child that may be suffering from burnout will encourage them to continue their involvement in sports.

What do I watch for?

• Be aware of the warning signs - loss of interest in sport, dreading practice, anger and irritability (especially if it has never been a problem before) at home and on the field.  
• Injuries (real or imagined)
• Watch for patterns - quitting during a competition or not focusing or caring about the outcome.
• Child exhibits signs of fatigue, restlessness, apathy, loss of appetite, depression and/or a lack of motivation.

 What can we do to help?

• Offer your support.  Sometimes parents and coaches are so sure they are doing the right thing that they find it difficult to step back and see what's happening.
• Reduce the pressure to win by establishing goals.
• Recognize improvement and realize that there will be setbacks to progress.
• Sometimes performance gets worse before it get better; motivation and encouragement go further than punishment or criticism.
• Listen to what your child has to say and respect their opinions.  The most common complaint is that "It's just not fun anymore."
• Keep a healthy perspective on the importance of raising a star athlete vs. raising a healthy child.
• Let them take time off, encourage them to play a variety of sports, and build other activities into their schedule.

The best thing parents can do to prevent burnout in their child is to let them know that no matter the outcome, you love them and will be proud of them for who they are, not what they are.

References Available from the SIRC Collection: 

1. Appleton P, Hill A. Perfectionism and Athlete Burnout in Junior Elite Athletes: The Mediating Role of Motivation Regulations. Journal Of Clinical Sport Psychology. June 2012;6(2):129-145.
2. Gustafsson H, Skoog T. The mediational role of perceived stress in the relation between optimism and burnout in competitive athletes. Anxiety, Stress & Coping. March 2012;25(2):183-199.
3. Harris B, Watson II J. Assessing Youth Sport Burnout: A Self-Determination and Identity Development Perspective. Journal Of Clinical Sport Psychology. June 2011;5(2):117-133.
4. Kids at play: risks and rewards. Handball. October 2004;54(5):37-39.
5. Metzl J. DO I HAVE OVERSTRAINING SYNDROME?. Triathlete. October 2012;(343):28.
6. Wolff R. Preventing burnout among young athletes. Sports Illustrated. April 21, 1997;86(16):79.

Training logs as effective training tools

Sport is about the pursuit of excellence. Before you can get there, you have to invest a lot of time and effort into training. For cyclists, it means a lot of hours in the saddle, training you body to be able to ride your local road race or if you are one of the best in the world, the Tour de France. The 2013 Tour de France is comprised of 21 stages, completed in a 23 day period, covering over 3400 kilometers. For those doing the math, that is an average of 162km each day that the competitors ride.

In order to be able to tackle such a feat, you need to train properly. Monitoring your training to ensure you are getting the proper nutrition and recovery is necessary to be able to prepare for the hilly, mountainous, flat and time trial stages endured in the race.

An excellent way to monitor your progress during training and racing is to write things down in a training log or a training dairy. A training log or diary is a document in which you can record your training, pre and post race routines, progress, etc. It can be as simple or as complex as you wish it to be.

A training log can help improve your cycling, since you are able to compare your training week-to-week, month-to-month and year-to-year. It gives you a progress report of how well you are doing by recording the short term and long-term development of your cycling career. For an athlete it is good to look back and see if you are making any improvements during workouts and racing. Having this data in your training dairy allows you to compare previous workouts and judge whether you are improving, maintaining the status quo or not improving at all. It also enables you to make the necessary adjustments and understand what does work and what doesn’t work.

A training log can be a motivational tool, help set goals and build confidence. By simply looking at your log, you can review your progress, which can help with motivation. It can help with goals setting because it gives you an idea of your fitness allowing you to adjust your goals and keep them realistic. Knowing how fit you are gives you confidence, since you understand where you are in your training. A training log simply allows the athlete to go back and look at what helps the athlete perform best during competition and training.

A training log keeps track of patterns such as:

• Consistency in training 
• Racing times 
• Sleeping habits
• Nutrition 
• Recovery
• Burnouts
• Injuries 

When training to tackle a race such as the Tour de France, a training log allows a cyclist to view their progress as they prepare to ride for 21 stages. Using a training log as a preparation tool reassures an athlete they have done all they can do to prepare.In the process,the information recorded and assessed in a training log can boost an athlete’s confidence as they toe the line.

References from the SIRC Collection:

1. Deters T. Journaling your journey: write your way to a better physique with a training & nutrition log. Muscle & Fitness. June 2002;63(6):24. 
2. Kuzzy G. LOG IT!. Cross Country Skier. December 2008;28(3):96. 
3. Menaspà P, Abbiss C, Martin D. Performance Analysis of a World-Class Sprinter During Cycling Grand Tours. International Journal Of Sports Physiology & Performance. May 2013;8(3):336-340. 
4. Miranda M. Training and Competition Log for Tennis Players. Coaching & Sport Science Review. December 2007;43:14-16. 
5.Pinar S, Kaya F, Bicer B, Erzeybek M, Cotuk H. DIFFERENT RECOVERY METHODS AND MUSCLE PERFORMANCE AFTER EXHAUSTING EXERCISE: COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF ELECTRICAL MUSCLE STIMULATION AND MASSAGE. Biology Of Sport. December 2012;29(4):269-275. 
6.Young B, Medic N, Starkes J. Effects of Self-Monitoring Training Logs on Behaviors and Beliefs of Swimmers. Journal Of Applied Sport Psychology. October 2009;21(4):413-428.

Early or late specialization?

When you compare today's athletes to those from the past, you will notice that athletes of today tend to train pretty much all year round. Sports have become big business with a lot at stake and for this reason, the days of taking the summer off from playing hockey or any other professional sport and coming to training camp unfit are unheard of nowadays. This is the reality not only at the professional level but also at the developmental stage. Kids are specializing early in sports in order to improve their skills and ability in a particular sport. They are training all year round to become the next Olympian or get that athletic scholarship. But is early specialization the best thing?

Early specialization does have its benefits as it allows children to understand pattern recognition and strategic thinking at an earlier stage. There are also athletes such as Tiger Woods and Andre Agassi who specialized at young ages and who would become phenomenal athletes. The Theory of Deliberate Practice by Ericsson and his colleagues supports early specialization, concluding that the earlier one can begin on focused training, the greater the chance at becoming exceptional in their chosen domain.

Conversely though, early specialization limits the ability of a child to explore other sports and discover whether they have other talents. Early specialization can also increase the risk of overuse injuries at a young age and burnout. The fact is that just because your child specializes early it does not guarantee the child will be a great athlete. Though Wayne Gretzky was a great hockey player even at a young age, it should be noted that he was also good at baseball and running.

Most sport governing bodies have also moved to the long-term athlete development model encouraging girls to begin specializing at age 11 and boys at the age of 12. This type of model challenges the notion of early specialization and supports the idea that children should be able to participate in a variety of activities before specializing.

A study of collegiate soccer players concluded that it did not really make a difference whether they had specialized in soccer or whether they were multisport athlete in order to play in the NCAA.

As a parent, allowing your child to be a multisport athlete ensures that their muscles and bones adapt to different movements, thus avoiding overuse injuries. Introducing children to a number of different sports also enables them to develop other characteristics and positive social interaction with a wide rage of new friends and less pressure, since they are not playing the same sport all year round.

References from the SIRC Collection:

1. Callender S. The Early Specialization of Youth in Sports. Athletic Training & Sports Health Care: The Journal For The Practicing Clinician. November 2010;2(6):255-257.

2. Côté J, Lidor R, Hackfort D. ISSP POSITION STAND: TO SAMPLE OR TO SPECIALIZE? SEVEN POSTULATES ABOUT YOUTH SPORT ACTIVITIES THAT LEAD TO CONTINUED PARTICIPATION AND ELITE PERFORMANCE. International Journal Of Sport & Exercise Psychology. March 2009;7(1):7-17.

3. Ford P, Ward P, Hodges N, Williams A. The role of deliberate practice and play in career progression in sport: the early engagement hypothesis. High Ability Studies. June 2009;20(1):65-75.

4. Jenkins S. Leading Article: Digging it out of the Dirt: Ben Hogan, Deliberate Practice and the Secret. International Journal Of Sports Science & Coaching. December 15, 2010;5:1-21.

5. Malina R. Early Sport Specialization: Roots, Effectiveness, Risks. Current Sports Medicine Reports (American College Of Sports Medicine). November 2010;9(6):364-371.

6. Moesch K, Elbe A, Hauge M, Wikman J. Late specialization: the key to success in centimeters, grams, or seconds (cgs) sports. Scandinavian Journal Of Medicine & Science In Sports. December 2011;21(6):e282-e290.

7. Roberts W. EDITORIAL: Youth Sports: Who's Pushing the Cart?. Current Sports Medicine Reports (American College Of Sports Medicine). November 2010;9(6):323.