In his book, Range, David Epstein talks about two of the greatest athletes of our time - Tiger Woods and Roger Federer.

Many will be familiar with Tiger's story. From the time he was an infant, his dad raised him to be a great golfer. His whole life was golf.

It worked. He became the best player in the world (although that attainment clearly came at a cost).

On the other hand, Roger Federer played a bunch of different sports as a kid - badminton, basketball, squash, handball, soccer, and, oh yeah, tennis.

At one point, his parents told him to train LESS seriously for tennis. When he started showing promise and his coaches wanted to move him up to play against older players, he declined. He wanted to keep playing with his friends.

That worked, too!

So which one is the better approach?

Well, while one might not be "better," Epstein argues that there are many more Federer stories out there than Tiger stories. Unfortunately, the Tiger stories tend to get the headlines.

My Inner Struggle Around Multi Sport Participation

In my experience as a coach (and now as a parent), participation in multiple sports is one of the most interesting topics related to youth sports. I say interesting because what I have observed in many cases is a misalignment between words and actions.

You would be hard pressed to find someone who is going to come out and say that youth athletes should not be playing multiple sports. However, you would find many whose actions do not match their words. This is unfortunate and really puts our athletes in a tough position.

As a coach, I understand the desire to have your athletes committed to your sport year round. I would be dishonest if I said there haven't been times in my career where I've wished more players were able to devote more time to basketball.

And yet, as I've gotten more experienced and matured as a coach, I find myself more staunch in my support of multi-sport athletes, and believe that my actions have aligned with my belief.

One of the issues that has really shaped my perspective is being a parent of young athletes. My oldest daughter is in 6th grade. She currently plays basketball, volleyball and soccer. She really enjoys all three.

My wife and I have had countless conversations about the best way to support her in her athletic goals. We have decided that we want her to continue to play all of her sports as long as she wants to.

While we both feel strongly about that, I can see how families get sucked into the single sport cycle at a young age. In the past year or two, we have felt the pull of club soccer and JO volleyball. While it would be great if she could do those, it is just not feasible.

Something would have to give, and we (and most importantly, she) does not want to give up any of her sports. And yet, while I firmly believe we are doing the right thing, I do sometimes feel guilty that we haven't taken those steps.

When you see other kids doing it, it is human nature to wonder if you're not doing everything you can for your kid and not allowing her to fall behind. So I do see how the pressure to specialize starts.

I think this has greatly impacted girls basketball. When my wife was coaching middle school basketball 10 years ago, she would have 30-40 7th grade girls try out for a team. In recent years, there have been around 15 girls trying out, as many have decided to specialize in another sport.

What The Numbers Say

The Aspen Institute recently released a study that showed most kids quit playing sports by age 11. The #1 reason given for quitting is that sports stop being fun.

Why do sports stop being fun? One reason is when they feel like a job. The article goes into detail on how parents are spending thousands of dollars on youth sports.

That type of investment puts a lot of pressure on kids. Kids correctly assume their parents are expecting a return on investment, even if parents say fun is their #1 goal for youth sports.

Some youth athletes put in more than 60 hours a week on their sport! That's a full time job and then some. It's no wonder so many burn out.

While physical activity is great, no child needs to spend 60 hours a week on one sport. Not only will they get tired of it, but they'll also be missing the many benefits of playing multiple sports.

Why Playing Multiple Sports Helps Your Child

I believe in multiple sport participation for a number of reasons:

1. I think it makes for better athletes, as you train your body to perform in different ways.
2. I believe multi-sport athletes can make connections across sports. For example, the passing and spacing in soccer and other "invasion" sports (hockey, rugby, lacrosse, etc.) parallels that of basketball. Training in similar style sports will only help basketball players. For example, NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash played soccer and hockey until middle school. It wasn't until then that he started playing basketball. But he was able to use the spatial awareness of those sports to make his basketball transition easier.
3. I believe it reduces injuries, as the different movements of the various sports help prevent the constant pounding on the same joints and tendons of single sport participation.
4. I believe it makes for better teammates, as someone who is the star of the team in a certain sport can learn a lot by being a backup in another sport.
5. I believe it makes athletes better competitors, as striving to win is a skill, and the more chances athletes have to do that across sports, the better they get at it.
6. Finally, I believe it increases school spirit as bonds are strengthened when student-athletes interact with many different people as members of multiple teams.

Why Specializing Early Is Risky

While early specialization can be tempting, there are risks attached to it. Studies have shown that those who specialize early do not have better athletic outcomes.

The numbers just don't back it up.

It doesn't stop there.

Studies also show that those who specialize early have the following negative outcomes:

1. Increased injuries from overtraining the same body parts.
2. More incidents of burnout from continually playing the same sport. Unfortunately, when this occurs, many children drop out of sports altogether rather than picking up a different sport.
3. Increased anxiety and depression - This is attributed to the pressure (often applied at first by parents before being internalized by the child) of performance expectations associated with playing only one sport.

For more on some of this research, check out this podcast - Dr. Neeru Jayanthi Podcast.

No parent wants that for their child. But it's easy to think it will be different with your child.

Could it be? Yes. . . it is likely to be? No. . .

When Specializing Makes Sense

There is no perfect answer to this question. I would say that as athletes enter high school, specializing might make sense.

However, this is only true under a couple conditions:

1. It must be the child's idea. No matter how talented you think your child is, don't force them to specialize. If you do, it's likely they will resent you for it.
2. It should be motivated by a love for the sport, not to try to get a scholarship. If a scholarship is the barometer for success, then your child is being set up to fail.

First, it creates an external focus on control. That adds stress as happiness is reliant on something out of their control.

Second, earning an athletic scholarship is unlikely, even if they do specialize. That's the facts. If they do specialize, it should be because they love the sport and get joy out of practicing.

If those conditions are in place, then the time might be right to specialize.

Conclusion

One of my biggest athletic related regrets is just playing basketball after my freshman year of high school. I have heard similar regrets from many of my friends as well.

When athletes tell me they are thinking of giving up a sport, I always encourage them to give it a shot.

I don't know if I've heard someone regret playing, but I've heard many people regret NOT playing. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but definitely at some point in the future.

When you feel that urge to go all in on one sport, remember that. Bring the future into today. Will they be happy they quit all the other sports to focus on only one?

Chances are, they won't. So give them what they deserve - your love and support as they try different sports, fulfill different roles, and learn the great lessons the multitude of sports can provide!

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