Issues statement: Early specialisation is essential to develop into an elite athlete.
Introduction:
Within the sporting industry today, there is a lot of controversy within elite sports as to whether young athletes require specialising in a single sport at an early again order to play professionally. Early Sports Specialisation (ESS) is an intense, year-round training program in a single sport with the elimination of participating in other sports. While most experts agree that ESS is essential in achieving elite level, there is a major debate as to whether such intense practice are necessary during early childhood and to the prohibiting of only participating in a single sport to maximize potential success (Ferrari, 2018). There is a developing concern within ESS, that before an athlete reaches adolescence they may be deleterious to a young athlete (Jayanthi, 2013). Sport specialization is progressively becoming more popular amongst youth and commonly involves participation from athletes as young as 8 years old, with athletes primarily focusing on level of success within their performance. The ESS trend has been encouraged by the assumption that focusing on a single sport from the early age of …show more content…
Athletic transferable skills are skills learned through one sports that can be applied to another. (Stankovich, 2011) Young athletes can learn many important fundamental physical movement skills with early diversification that can then transfer later in life to their primary sport. By learning these skills during their developing years, athletes will require less deliberate practice to acquire expertise in their chosen sport . It has been shown in studies that deliberate play is crucial to normal development and attainment of elite status (Eytel,
Introduction:
Within the sporting industry today, there is a lot of controversy within elite sports as to whether young athletes require specialising in a single sport at an early again order to play professionally. Early Sports Specialisation (ESS) is an intense, year-round training program in a single sport with the elimination of participating in other sports. While most experts agree that ESS is essential in achieving elite level, there is a major debate as to whether such intense practice are necessary during early childhood and to the prohibiting of only participating in a single sport to maximize potential success (Ferrari, 2018). There is a developing concern within ESS, that before an athlete reaches adolescence they may be deleterious to a young athlete (Jayanthi, 2013). Sport specialization is progressively becoming more popular amongst youth and commonly involves participation from athletes as young as 8 years old, with athletes primarily focusing on level of success within their performance. The ESS trend has been encouraged by the assumption that focusing on a single sport from the early age of …show more content…
Athletic transferable skills are skills learned through one sports that can be applied to another. (Stankovich, 2011) Young athletes can learn many important fundamental physical movement skills with early diversification that can then transfer later in life to their primary sport. By learning these skills during their developing years, athletes will require less deliberate practice to acquire expertise in their chosen sport . It has been shown in studies that deliberate play is crucial to normal development and attainment of elite status (Eytel,