Children experience more injuries, stress and even burnout when they specialize in one sport
Published in Health & Fitness
From football to baseball, gymnastics to tennis, more young athletes are becoming sports specialists. They join expensive sports clubs or youth leagues and devote themselves to a single sport all year long. But Nirav Pandya, a professor of orthopedic surgery and sports medicine at the University of California San Francisco, says there are risks when kids specialize, including an increased possibility of injury and a high burnout rate.
The Conversation has collaborated with SciLine to bring you highlights from the discussion, which have been edited for brevity and clarity.
What trends do you see related to kids and sports participation?
Nirav Pandya: We’re seeing a tremendous number of kids who are participating in sports outside of the school setting.
And kids are specializing in sports at younger ages. Six-, 7-, 8- and 9-year-olds are playing one sport year-round to the exclusion of other sports.
What are the outcomes for kids who specialize?
Nirav Pandya: When kids specialize, they have a significantly increased risk of injury.
We also know 70% of kids will drop out of sports by age 13 if they specialize.
Also, in the long term, kids who specialize in a single sport perform less well in that sport and in all sports in general than kids who play more than one. So once again, we’re really hurting kids from multiple different levels if they’re specializing.
What is the relationship between sports specialization and injuries?
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