ArticleOrthopaedic journal of sports medicine2017
Early Single-Sport Specialization: A Survey of 3090 High School, Collegiate, and Professional Athletes.
Article in Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- What Defines Early Specialization: A Systematic Review of Literature.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2020Pooled it
- Meditation Monologue can Reduce Clinical Injection-Related Anxiety: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of evidence-based integrative medicineTrial
- An increase in paediatric arthroscopy in Europe: Experience of the EPOS Sport Study Group.Journal of children's orthopaedics · 2025Article
- Sustainable performance plan development to prevent non-contact ACL injuries in youth and adolescent athletes: a clinical practice review.Annals of joint · 2025Review
- Injury Patterns in Highly Specialized Youth Athletes: A Comparison of 2 Pathways to Specialization.Journal of athletic training · 2024Article
- A Proof-of-Concept Evaluation of the 1616 Story-Based Positive Youth Development Program.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Developmental activities of elite junior hockey players: an analysis of early sport specialization.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Article
- Neurocognitive and Reactive Return to Play Testing Protocol in Overhead Athletes Following Upper Extremity Injury.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2023Article
- Early Sport Specialization Trends and Injuries in Former High School Athletes Specialized in Sports.Open access journal of sports medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- Youth Sports Specialization and Its Effect on Professional, Elite, and Olympic Athlete Performance, Career Longevity, and Injury Rates: A Systematic Review.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2022Review
- Proportions of Early Specializers Varies According to Methods and Skill Level.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A Measure of Burnout in Current NCAA Student-Athletes.Kansas journal of medicine · 2022Article
- A Comparison of Pitching Biomechanics and Sport Specialization in High School Pitchers.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2022Article
- A scoping review on developmental activities of girls' and women's sports.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Article
- High School Sport Specialization and Injury in Collegiate Club-Sport Athletes.Journal of athletic training · 2021Article
- Contemporary Variables that Impact Sleep and Development in Female Adolescent Swimmers and Gymnasts.Sports medicine - open · 2021Review
- Exercise, Comorbidities, and Health-Related Quality of Life in People Living with HIV: The HIBES Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Youth Single-Sport Specialization in Professional Baseball Players.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2020Article
- Associations of Early Sport Specialization and High Training Volume With Injury Rates in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Athletes.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundYouth participation in organized sports in the United States is rising, with many athletes focusing on a single sport at an increasingly younger age. PURPOSE: To retrospectively compare single-sport specialization in current high school (HS), collegiate, and professional athletes with regard to the rate and age of specialization, the number of months per year of single-sport training, and the athlete's perception of injury related to specialization. STUDY
designCross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.
methodsA survey was distributed to HS, collegiate, and professional athletes prior to their yearly preparticipation physical examination. Athletes were asked whether they had chosen to specialize in only 1 sport, and data were then collected pertaining to this decision.
resultsA total of 3090 athletes completed the survey (503 HS, 856 collegiate, and 1731 professional athletes). A significantly greater percentage of current collegiate athletes specialized to play a single sport during their childhood/adolescence (45.2% of HS athletes, 67.7% of collegiate athletes, and 46.0% of professional athletes;
conclusionThis study provides a foundation for understanding current trends in single-sport specialization in all athletic levels. Current HS athletes specialized, on average, 2 years earlier than current collegiate and professional athletes surveyed. These data challenge the notion that success at an elite level requires athletes to specialize in 1 sport at a very young age.
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