ArticleSports health
Sports Specialization, Part II: Alternative Solutions to Early Sport Specialization in Youth Athletes.
Article in Sports health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 75 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
75 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Key Factors Impacting Performance Health During Growth and Maturation in Adolescent Competitive Aesthetic and Acrobatic Athletes: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- What Defines Early Specialization: A Systematic Review of Literature.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2020Pooled it
- Systematic Review of Health Organization Guidelines Following the AMSSM 2019 Youth Early Sport Specialization Summit.Sports healthPooled it
- Trial
- The Role of Training Age and Sport Specialization in Achieved Selection Tier in Adolescent Handball Talents.Sports medicine - open · 2026Article
- Pediatric ACL Injuries: A Current Concepts Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Sport-Specific Testing and Training Methods in Youth.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Prevalence of Capitellar Osteochondral Abnormalities in Healthy Youth Gymnasts: An Ultrasound Study.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Stepping up: A qualitative examination of youth Camogie players' perceptions of playing up an age grade.PloS one · 2026Article
- Systemic relationships between ecological-dynamic approach and active reflection: psycho-neuro-motor, cognitive, and physiological interactions in rugby pedagogy.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- The Natural History of Bone Stress Injuries in Athletes: From Inception to Resolution.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Review
- The Impact of Overtraining on Injury Rates in School-Age Athletes-A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Can Unilateral Strength Training Optimize Change of Direction Mechanics and Mitigate Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Risk in Female Soccer Players? A Preliminary Pre-Post Intervention Study.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Effects of Asymmetric and Symmetric Sport Load on Upper and Lower Extremity Strength and Balance: A Comparison Between the Dominant and Non-Dominant Side in Adolescent Female Athletes.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Focus on One Swimming Stroke or Compete in Multiple: How Much Specialization Is Needed to Become a World-Class Female Swimmer?Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Sustainable performance plan development to prevent non-contact ACL injuries in youth and adolescent athletes: a clinical practice review.Annals of joint · 2025Review
- Return to Sports After Surgical Treatment of Rotator Cuff Tear in Young Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2024Review
- Relationship Between Multi-Teaching Styles and Didactics Effectiveness on Rugby Instructors and Minirugby Players.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Specializing When It Counts: Comparing the Dose-Time Effect of Distance Variety between Swimming and Track Running.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Developing the Physical Performance in Youth Soccer: Short-Term Effect of Dynamic-Ecological versus Traditional Training Approach for Sub-Elite U13 Players-An Ecological Exploratory Cluster Randomised Trial.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2024Article
15 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
contextMany coaches, parents, and children believe that the best way to develop elite athletes is for them to participate in only 1 sport from an early age and to play it year-round. However, emerging evidence to the contrary indicates that efforts to specialize in 1 sport may reduce opportunities for all children to participate in a diverse year-round sports season and can lead to lost development of lifetime sports skills. Early sports specialization may also reduce motor skill development and ongoing participation in games and sports as a lifestyle choice. The purpose of this review is to employ the current literature to provide evidence-based alternative strategies that may help to optimize opportunities for all aspiring young athletes to maximize their health, fitness, and sports performance. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Nonsystematic review with critical appraisal of existing literature. STUDY
designClinical review. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 4.
conclusionBased on the current evidence, parents and educators should help provide opportunities for free unstructured play to improve motor skill development and youth should be encouraged to participate in a variety of sports during their growing years to influence the development of diverse motor skills. For those children who do choose to specialize in a single sport, periods of intense training and specialized sport activities should be closely monitored for indicators of burnout, overuse injury, or potential decrements in performance due to overtraining. Last, the evidence indicates that all youth should be involved in periodized strength and conditioning (eg, integrative neuromuscular training) to help them prepare for the demands of competitive sport participation, and youth who specialize in a single sport should plan periods of isolated and focused integrative neuromuscular training to enhance diverse motor skill development and reduce injury risk factors. STRENGTH OF RECOMMENDATION TAXONOMY SORT: B.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.