Subscribe to the NCSA BlogWhen to Specialize?
November 20th, 2008 - by
Many student athletes and families face a difficult choice during the college recruitment process of when, if ever, to specialize in a single sport. The days of Bo Jackson tearing up both the diamond and gridiron appear over. The thinking goes if an athlete could spend all of his or her time focused on improvement in a single sport, thus improving the athletes chances of attaining an athletic scholarship.
Naturally there is a wide range of disagreement. One extreme advocates that each sport compliments the athlete overall. Former Bronco QB Jake Plummer is in this camp, crediting his development to multiple sports.
“I guarantee it helped my career by rounding out my ability: hand-eye coordination, endurance and mental toughness,” Jake says. “My ultimate goal is to get coaches to stop specializing their athletes, telling them they can’t play other sports because it’ll hurt their football. I played all three sports and handball whenever I could. That’s why I made it in the NFL – that rounded me out as an athlete.”
The nations number one defensive tackle prospect Jacobbi McDaniel was once a top baseball prospect, but gave up the sport after last spring to focus solely on football. Still, scouts marvel at his quick hips, and one wonders if baseball helped develop that quickness.
At the extreme far end of the spectrum are athletes like the Martin brothers Zachary and Josh. Their parents decided to have them drop all sports and focus on golf. They were 6 and 8. Today, they are two of the best young golfers in the country.
Their father justifies the decision with a simple, “I just wanted them to be great at something.”
Should athletes specialize in one sport, and if so what is the proper age? What do you think?
November 20th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I often look back and wonder how differently my life would have turned out if I considered the road less taken and chose to specialize in a sport. If I could go back in time I would either have dropped out of high school to move to the mountains or moved to an elite ski academy ala Bode Miller. I spent high school and college in the midwest not taking the serious steps needed to pursue a career in the ski industry. However, I am now happily living in Chicago with a job I love. Still, I often wonder…
November 20th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Unfortunately there is not “right” answer to this question but a great debate nonetheless. I feel as though a student athlete should specialize once they realize that they are truly commited to playing that sport in college. For some that might be junior year, for others maybe freshmen year. I feel as though my desire to play two sports (thus keeping me from having extra off season training) prevented me from fulfilling my true potential in either. To put it cliche: I was jack of two trades and an ace at none…
November 20th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I would be interested to see the % of professional athletes who played multiple sports throughout high school, but my guess would be a good majority. I believe for the most part, athletes are either good enough or they’re not to play at a certain level. At the high school level especially, I think the skills and lessons a student-athlete learns competing in multiple sports far exceeds the benefit of specialized off-season training.
November 20th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
As a parent, I loved it when my daughter played 5 different sports in a single calendar year. She whittled those down to 2 sports by the time she was a junior in high school. Multiple sports helped her in her primary sport. Multiple sports kept her from burning out. Multiple sports ensured that she wouldn’t suffer any ’stress” or over-use injuries. And, multiple sports didn’t prevent her from being recruited – it helped. Finally, multiple sports didn’t interfere with her grades either.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I agree that there is no right answer to this question, but there are definite positives to committing to one sport as oppose to 2 or 3 during high school. As a former volleyball recruit who played basketball and ran track early on, I made the choice to focus on volleyball and play the sport year-round. This decision was beneficial to me because it allowed me to play for a higher level, more time demanding club so I nevr really had an off-season.
In sports like football, there is no club season so in terms of committing to everyday practices and games, that makes up 4-5 months out of the year, whereas in sports that have club season like volleyball the time commitment year-round requires a college-bound student-athlete to most often make a choice. As for me and in many cases, by focusing on one sport as an upperclassman, a student-athlete can better manage higher level/AP classes, the demands of the recruiting process, have a part-time job and of course, have a social life
November 25th, 2008 at 10:47 am
My son has had a lot of difficulty with this issue. For two years he was a 3 sport athlete with football, basketball and baseball at a very high level competitive school. He was forced to quit basketball to start on the baseball team that was rate number one in the nation at the time. He continued with both through his senior year but it was a constant topic of converstion with everyone. He was all state in football and received a division one baseball scholarship. I would definately say that multiple sports helped his ability and mind. However it made college scholarships more difficult and he had to take a big gamble. One sport in high school should not be necessary and actually hurts players. Let them be kids and enjoy competition and playing for the school
November 25th, 2008 at 11:23 am
My daughter is a sophmore in high school right now and she is an exceptional athelete and plays softball, basketball, volleyball and is on a travel softball team and a travel power volleyball team. We are constantly asked what she like better because she exceptional at all three. She loves them all and she has been told, on more than one occasion, that she should choose by her senior year because she could be offered a scholarship in either sport to a division one college. I don’t want her to have to choose right now because she loves them all and it keeps her in great shape. She has expressed on more than one occasion that she is not ready to choose because she’s enjoying playing them all.
November 25th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
As a parent and has-been athlete, I encourage my daughter to play as many sports as she can while she’s young and has the opportunity. For most kids when high school is over they will never get the chance to play most sports competively again. Enjoy it while you can. You don’t want to look back and have regrets. It will only help you be a better athlete and competitor at your given sport when you go to the next level. Also, I think playing more than one sport helps some avoid burn out.
November 25th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
My son has struggled with this as well; played football and received a concussion in each of the two years he played. Decided to focus on baseball and track and has never looked back. Although he is a freshman may change his mind later. Currently he can concentrate on baseball in the offseason, and become technically polished, and gain experience when the season kicks off.
November 25th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I agree that there is no right answer. Cross-training helps an athlete stay in great shape, exercises different muscles, avoids stress/overuse injuries, & helps avoid burn out. In high school, participating in multiple sports will help a student-athlete will make a variety of friendships, and expose them to different experiences, etc. I want my children to focus on academics first, sports second. I want them to have fun, & be well rounded.