When to specialize?

[Anonymous]

I think the answer is different depending on team vs. individual sports and how valuable you are to the team. If you’re juggling several team sports, you are inevitably missing practices/games which may be unfair to the team if you’re a key player. If it’s a mix of team and individual, or if you’re not a key player on the team(s), then it’s easier. Either way watch out for burnout and exhaustion. I was on the brink of this at 13/14 just trying to do one school sport and one individual sport at a high level. Two sport practices plus homework means less sleep and less time to pay attention to hydration and nutrition. At some point you have to consider goals and re-evaluate whether it’s all worth it.

[Anonymous]

Most people are right that the answer is to do multi-sport for as long as possible.

Unless its baseball. Then, honestly, around 12, the best players, and the ones that make varsity, are the ones that specialized. But truthfully, that's bc much of baseball is skill based, not necessarily athleticism.

But for the other sports, cross-train. 3 sports a year for as long as possible.

And hopefully one of them is either wrestling or swim. Bc that sets you up to be the fittest on the "other teams" in spring/fall

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people are right that the answer is to do multi-sport for as long as possible.

Unless its baseball. Then, honestly, around 12, the best players, and the ones that make varsity, are the ones that specialized. But truthfully, that's bc much of baseball is skill based, not necessarily athleticism.

But for the other sports, cross-train. 3 sports a year for as long as possible.

And hopefully one of them is either wrestling or swim. Bc that sets you up to be the fittest on the "other teams" in spring/fall

No, not unless it is baseball. Lots of great baseball varsity players play multiple sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people are right that the answer is to do multi-sport for as long as possible.

Unless its baseball. Then, honestly, around 12, the best players, and the ones that make varsity, are the ones that specialized. But truthfully, that's bc much of baseball is skill based, not necessarily athleticism.

But for the other sports, cross-train. 3 sports a year for as long as possible.

And hopefully one of them is either wrestling or swim. Bc that sets you up to be the fittest on the "other teams" in spring/fall

No, not unless it is baseball. Lots of great baseball varsity players play multiple sports.

There is no one answer. Kids in the DR do nothing but play baseball and they have the highest per capita representation in the MLB.

Regardless of Trevor Bauer’s personal issues, he readily admits he is a terrible general athlete and would never have played in college and the MLB without devoting his efforts to pitching.

It’s rare that someone is a multi sport athlete that isn’t just a top athlete in general. That said, both Brock Purdy and Patrick Mahomes eventually gave up baseball around 16 to focus on football.

You don’t see a HS kid that is a superstar in one sport and just meh in another and continues with both.

[Anonymous]

If kids would just play one sport in season, it would be a lot easier to be a multi-sport athlete. To bad the sports industry fights the logic.

Kids use to play middle school baseball and practiced 4-5 days a week. They also played little league baseball and had more practices and games. Now kids are playing fall and spring but are only playing 3-4 days a week (or less if they are playing another sport) and it shows on the field when kids can't make routine plays.

[Anonymous]

My 11 yo son plays three sports: tackle football, wrestling and soccer. He is not the best in any sport, but he is competitive in all. Kids that play year round are usually better than him at the beginning of each season, but he eventually catches up after a few weeks of practice. I think it’s important to change sports every season. Kids get bored/burned out or injured playing the same sport due to the repetitive nature of practicing and/or using the same body parts and motions. He also dabbles in pickleball, basketball and riding his bike. Some of his friends that specialized early (soccer,baseball,wrestling) have quit those sports and are looking to do other things. Top athletes and doctors all say the same thing:don’t specialize. I am a HS coach and teacher, and I can say if your child wants to play a high school sport, they will make a team. A lot of kids don’t come out for sports until HS and make the team, especially football, girls volleyball, g basketball, and lacrosse. There are no cuts for XC, track, swim, and wrestling. Making the varsity basketball is probably the most difficult, but you have freshmen and JV levels to develop and grow. My end goal for my kids is just to play for their high school and be active. I’ve never pushed my kids to do anything, and before every season, I ask them what they want to do and support whatever decision they make. My son has flipped flopped between baseball and soccer and flag and tackle. My daughter really had a great basketball season in the winter and wanted to play spring ball instead of lacrosse, so we did bball. Let them have fun and don’t succumb to the pressure of specializing. Someone mentioned it already, but what is the end goal? Mine is to have happy and active kids and to have a healthy relationship with my kids and not let sports ruin that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people are right that the answer is to do multi-sport for as long as possible.

Unless its baseball. Then, honestly, around 12, the best players, and the ones that make varsity, are the ones that specialized. But truthfully, that's bc much of baseball is skill based, not necessarily athleticism.

But for the other sports, cross-train. 3 sports a year for as long as possible.

And hopefully one of them is either wrestling or swim. Bc that sets you up to be the fittest on the "other teams" in spring/fall

No, not unless it is baseball. Lots of great baseball varsity players play multiple sports.

There is no one answer. Kids in the DR do nothing but play baseball and they have the highest per capita representation in the MLB.

Regardless of Trevor Bauer’s personal issues, he readily admits he is a terrible general athlete and would never have played in college and the MLB without devoting his efforts to pitching.

It’s rare that someone is a multi sport athlete that isn’t just a top athlete in general. That said, both Brock Purdy and Patrick Mahomes eventually gave up baseball around 16 to focus on football.

You don’t see a HS kid that is a superstar in one sport and just meh in another and continues with both.

Nobody is talking about professional athletes.

And correct, there is no one answer. Thus, the statement “unless it’s baseball” is nonsense. There are many kids who play baseball at a very high level along with another sport.

[Anonymous]

If he’s missing games, losing playing time and not progressing in his favorite sport, then the time is now. He needs to decide if that sport is his favorite and make it #1. Don’t skip and games or practices for that sport. If the other sports don’t fit, then decisions will need to be made.

My 13 year old son played organized 5 sports, but on different levels. One is his main sport, travel, and he doesn’t skip any games/practices for other sports. Two have a different main seasons, are more rec focused and can be done during the same season together with litttle skipping practices. The other 2 are individual and can be worked in during the seasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people are right that the answer is to do multi-sport for as long as possible.

Unless its baseball. Then, honestly, around 12, the best players, and the ones that make varsity, are the ones that specialized. But truthfully, that's bc much of baseball is skill based, not necessarily athleticism.

But for the other sports, cross-train. 3 sports a year for as long as possible.

And hopefully one of them is either wrestling or swim. Bc that sets you up to be the fittest on the "other teams" in spring/fall

No, not unless it is baseball. Lots of great baseball varsity players play multiple sports.

There is no one answer. Kids in the DR do nothing but play baseball and they have the highest per capita representation in the MLB.

Regardless of Trevor Bauer’s personal issues, he readily admits he is a terrible general athlete and would never have played in college and the MLB without devoting his efforts to pitching.

It’s rare that someone is a multi sport athlete that isn’t just a top athlete in general. That said, both Brock Purdy and Patrick Mahomes eventually gave up baseball around 16 to focus on football.

You don’t see a HS kid that is a superstar in one sport and just meh in another and continues with both.

Nobody is talking about professional athletes.

And correct, there is no one answer. Thus, the statement “unless it’s baseball” is nonsense. There are many kids who play baseball at a very high level along with another sport.

Well, this isn’t about just playing rec sports for fun, so there aren’t any other statistics available except what drives athletes to the pro level.

I would wager on any HS team around here less than 10% of the top athletes in any sport play a 2nd sport (counting XCountry and Distance Track as really one sport).

[Anonymous]

Seems like now is the time to drop the sport that helps the most logistically. That seems to be the issue, so look at cutting the secondary sport that causes the most conflict with the main sport. And be thoughtful about it - keep one for each high school season if you can, instead of sticking with two in the same season like lacrosse and baseball.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the kids and his or her goals too.

My DD (10) loves soccer. It’s her thing. Has been for a few years no end in sight. She does other things, but they’re all lower priority. I’ve convinced her to keep up other things to be balanced.

Her position is midfield and her second favorite sport is cross country. The girl just likes to run.🏃‍♀️

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the kids and his or her goals too.

My DD (10) loves soccer. It’s her thing. Has been for a few years no end in sight. She does other things, but they’re all lower priority. I’ve convinced her to keep up other things to be balanced.

Her position is midfield and her second favorite sport is cross country. The girl just likes to run.🏃‍♀️

This response is not helpful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people are right that the answer is to do multi-sport for as long as possible.

Unless its baseball. Then, honestly, around 12, the best players, and the ones that make varsity, are the ones that specialized. But truthfully, that's bc much of baseball is skill based, not necessarily athleticism.

But for the other sports, cross-train. 3 sports a year for as long as possible.

And hopefully one of them is either wrestling or swim. Bc that sets you up to be the fittest on the "other teams" in spring/fall

No, not unless it is baseball. Lots of great baseball varsity players play multiple sports.

There is no one answer. Kids in the DR do nothing but play baseball and they have the highest per capita representation in the MLB.

Regardless of Trevor Bauer’s personal issues, he readily admits he is a terrible general athlete and would never have played in college and the MLB without devoting his efforts to pitching.

It’s rare that someone is a multi sport athlete that isn’t just a top athlete in general. That said, both Brock Purdy and Patrick Mahomes eventually gave up baseball around 16 to focus on football.

You don’t see a HS kid that is a superstar in one sport and just meh in another and continues with both.

Nobody is talking about professional athletes.

And correct, there is no one answer. Thus, the statement “unless it’s baseball” is nonsense. There are many kids who play baseball at a very high level along with another sport.

Sure. There are just "studs" at every school. Kids that can do anything

But baseball also has the higher percentage of kids that wouldn't stand a chance at any other competitive varsity athlete. Kids that are PO who would never make any other sport, JV or otherwise.

I guess my point is that there are parts of baseball that don't rely as much as on athleticism, and much more on skill. If your kid isn't one of those "studs" that can pick up any sport in a week and be the best player on the field, then baseball is a good sport for them to specialize in early. If they can throw a nasty slider, but can't squat their own bodyweight at 15 or run the 40 in under 7 seconds, you'll still have a shot at a baseball career.

But slow and/or weak won't work in any other sport.

And FWIW, I say that as a baseball Dad (and former baseball coach). On my MS aged teams, I always looked for athletic kids first, but would happily take the kid that only weight 70 pounds that could locate a curveball.

[Anonymous]

It's not about dropping all other sports, but prioritizing so you don't have conflicts. Maybe do a summer camp in a secondary sport, do clinics at times that don't conflict, or find a league where the games are at times that don't conflict. Not all sports fit together well just based on schedules and seasons. He also doesn't need one sport or four sports--what about two or three sports?

[Anonymous]

Maybe you don't have to completely specialize, but drop from 4 sports to 2 or 3. Then they'll be less conflict and more time for focusing (and not letting down teammates).

We've either personally dealt with or had friends who dealt with a lot of solid players missing out on games this year because they are overcommitted - either multi-sport athletes or playing on 2 or 3 different teams in the same sport. People end up getting frustrated when that happens.