I know, I know, we have hammered this topic extensively. I saw this piece and thought it had some very good insight with a level of detail pertaining to specific age data that has been missing from previous discussions...
http://www.stack.com/a/new-stu...r-chance-for-success
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I'm sorry, Cabbage, I can't take any of this seriously. From the article: "the average pro athlete specialized at 14.1 years old." LOL, have someone post here -- or anywhere else -- that his child is going single-sport in 8th grade and you will be lambasted, and warned about the dangers of single sport specialization.
Here's some news for Dr. Buckley: pro athletes, on average, are much better athletes than high school athletes. Many of those high school athletes didn't choose to specialize, they just couldn't make the team in multiple sports. It reminds me of the time the LA Times prep sportswriter used Giancarlo Stanton (all-CIF in football, basketball, and baseball in high school) as a perfect example of playing multiple sports. It was great advice for all those high school athletes who are 6'6" 240" with great hands. Absolutely relevant for most kids.
I love the NFL draft stats. Everyone doing track in the spring so they can train for football. What are the stats about the NBA draft? How about pro tennis players? How many of them were three sport athletes in high school?
My problem is that the "specialization is bad" group has an agenda. Data is used selectively to advance the agenda.
My position is: let them do whatever they want. They're kids. If they want to play three sports in high school, go for it. And if they don't, nothing wrong with that either. It's the pro-choice position.
It gets better. From the same study:
"61.7% of professional athletes indicated that they believed specialization helps that athlete play at a higher level"
and
"looking back, most athletes who did specialize to play only 1 sport were glad they did (84.2% of HS athletes, 83.7% of collegiate athletes, and 89.4% of professional athletes,"
http://journals.sagepub.com/do...177/2325967117703944
So 90% of pro athletes who specialized were glad they did so!!!! Somehow that didn't make it into the press release.
It reminds me of Mark Twain's observation: "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
2019Dad posted:It gets better. From the same study:
"61.7% of professional athletes indicated that they believed specialization helps that athlete play at a higher level"
and
"looking back, most athletes who did specialize to play only 1 sport were glad they did (84.2% of HS athletes, 83.7% of collegiate athletes, and 89.4% of professional athletes,"
http://journals.sagepub.com/do...177/2325967117703944
So 90% of pro athletes who specialized were glad they did so!!!! Somehow that didn't make it into the press release.
It reminds me of Mark Twain's observation: "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
2019, thanks for the extra insight.
Cabbage and other:
at MSU we had three Rose Bowl QB and one hockey player on the BIg 10 championship team and the College WS. The competitive attitude of Earl Morrall NFL Super Bowl was the major reason for our success.
In the US Army Sam Jones later NBA Hall of Fame player played both sports on our teams.
In Beijing, my son and I coached at the China #1 Sports Academy [360 days of baseball each year]. It was like Cuba practicing each day with the Chinese athletes.
"Play all sports" "The enjoyment of competing has no measurements"
Bob
If an athlete gets to be a professional athlete what does it matter (specialization or multi sport) how he got there? The issue is for those who don’t go past high school. What did they give up in terms of enjoyment in an attempt to go further? Some kids, or their parents see a pro future when a kid is little when he should have just enjoyed playing multiple sports through high school.
My son played two sports in a large classification high school. He would have played three had the basketball coach not liked him playing other sports. He was cut soph year after being the starting point guard on the freshman team. There were parents who wondered if he would make the varsity rotation soph year. He was stunned when he was cut. If my son had been 6’7” I think he would have chosen basketball. He loved the intensity of the sport.
RJM posted:If an athlete gets to be a professional athlete what does it matter (specialization or multi sport) how he got there? The issue is for those who don’t go past high school. What did they give up in terms of enjoyment in an attempt to go further? Some kids, or their parents see a pro future when a kid is little when he should have just enjoyed playing multiple sports through high school.
My son played two sports in a large classification high school. He would have played three had the basketball coach not liked him playing other sports. He was cut soph year after being the starting point guard on the freshman team. There were parents who wondered if he would make the varsity rotation soph year. He was stunned when he was cut. If my son had been 6’7” I think he would have chosen basketball. He loved the intensity of the sport.
Athletes give up a lot in an attempt to go further. They miss parties, free time, other school activities (e.g., school play), all kinds of stuff. It's their choice.
Why does it bother people so much? There is a never-ending stream of articles taking kids to task for being a single sport athlete in high school. Who cares? Or, why do they care?
No one ever discusses the counter-examples. I went to college with a guy who played three sports (football, basketball, and baseball) as a freshman in COLLEGE. After freshman year he specialized in baseball and after junior year he was drafted in the 4th round. He did not make the majors. Maybe he should have specialized earlier?!?
I think you may have missed the point a bit, at least the way I read it.
In the article, some top name professional players discuss how much other sports helped them with various aspects of their athletic make up. Nothing new there. The difference is the research - that numbers show, in summary, that the average age that HS athletes started specializing is about 12 1/2, the average age for college athletes is almost 15 and the average for pro's is over 14. So, on the surface, one message is that you don't have to specialize TOO EARLY to make it to the next level.
Yes, you are right about the bias. In part, pro athletes don't have to specialize as early because they were great athletes and were able to make the teams of other sports and able to survive missing some team practice time and extra game experience due to overlap. But that doesn't completely take away from the point that, if you have the abilities within you to play at the college level and beyond, you don't need to specialize too early.
However, what is happening in so many places is parents and VERY young players are succumbing to pressures to specialize early... like pre-HS (9-12 or so, sometimes even younger). Sometimes WAY before HS. This is where the problem lies in the minds of most. So, putting these specific numbers on it helps with perspective.
In the article, it is stated that yes, you will have to specialize at some point. But the numbers shed specific some light on what age that is likely to be.
I don't see the same never-ending stream of articles questioning the HS players playing just one sport. It seems to me that most debate is in regards to pre-HS ages. Once in HS, there are true difficult decisions to be made by many and many others have that decision made for them.
Just my opinion, experience and interpretation.
cabbagedad posted:I think you may have missed the point a bit, at least the way I read it.
In the article, some top name professional players discuss how much other sports helped them with various aspects of their athletic make up. Nothing new there. The difference is the research - that numbers show, in summary, that the average age that HS athletes started specializing is about 12 1/2, the average age for college athletes is almost 15 and the average for pro's is over 14. So, on the surface, one message is that you don't have to specialize TOO EARLY to make it to the next level.
Yes, you are right about the bias. In part, pro athletes don't have to specialize as early because they were great athletes and were able to make the teams of other sports and able to survive missing some team practice time and extra game experience due to overlap. But that doesn't completely take away from the point that, if you have the abilities within you to play at the college level and beyond, you don't need to specialize too early.
However, what is happening in so many places is parents and VERY young players are succumbing to pressures to specialize early... like pre-HS (9-12 or so, sometimes even younger). Sometimes WAY before HS. This is where the problem lies in the minds of most. So, putting these specific numbers on it helps with perspective.
In the article, it is stated that yes, you will have to specialize at some point. But the numbers shed specific some light on what age that is likely to be.
I don't see the same never-ending stream of articles questioning the HS players playing just one sport. It seems to me that most debate is in regards to pre-HS ages. Once in HS, there are true difficult decisions to be made by many and many others have that decision made for them.
Just my opinion, experience and interpretation.
Fair enough. Most of what I see relates to high schoolers. From the article you posted:
"Of the 253 players drafted in the 2017 NFL Draft, nearly 90 percent played multiple sports in high school. Numbers like that are tough to ignore. The benefits of being a multi-sport athlete are immense."
When I read stuff like that, I don't think it's aimed at 9-12 year olds. But I could be wrong.
If I was athletic enough to be drafted to NFL, pretty sure I would have been good enough to play any other sport I wanted in HS. Surprised it’s only 88%.
In Texas, most HS football coaches mandate a spring sport. And if you are not sure of the sport, you are put in Track. And guess who is assistant track coach?
Nobody sets out to have a career goal of being a Pizza delivery driver, smoking pot in Mom's basement... Somewhere in between that reality and achieving one's ultimate goal is where the rubber meets the road.... Just how hard did you try?
I wanted to play in the NBA. I can say I gave everything I had and topped out at D1 Basketball. The lessons I learned though have been applied to the rest of my life...
what gets me are the people who just shrug their shoulders and say they aren't a good student and accept less than great grades. It doesn't take that much effort to get A's. Hire a tutor for a fraction of what it costs to play travel ball...
to be truly great at multiple sports, as in good enough to play Power Five in multiple sports, you either need to be an athletic freak or you are sacrificing something somewhere along the line...
I'm cool with my kid specializing, especially if that means he has some time for getting great grades and time to socialize, be a kid, hang with friends and relax a little...
2019Dad posted:I'm sorry, Cabbage, I can't take any of this seriously. From the article: "the average pro athlete specialized at 14.1 years old." LOL, have someone post here -- or anywhere else -- that his child is going single-sport in 8th grade and you will be lambasted, and warned about the dangers of single sport specialization.
Here's some news for Dr. Buckley: pro athletes, on average, are much better athletes than high school athletes. Many of those high school athletes didn't choose to specialize, they just couldn't make the team in multiple sports. It reminds me of the time the LA Times prep sportswriter used Giancarlo Stanton (all-CIF in football, basketball, and baseball in high school) as a perfect example of playing multiple sports. It was great advice for all those high school athletes who are 6'6" 240" with great hands. Absolutely relevant for most kids.
I love the NFL draft stats. Everyone doing track in the spring so they can train for football. What are the stats about the NBA draft? How about pro tennis players? How many of them were three sport athletes in high school?
My problem is that the "specialization is bad" group has an agenda. Data is used selectively to advance the agenda.
My position is: let them do whatever they want. They're kids. If they want to play three sports in high school, go for it. And if they don't, nothing wrong with that either. It's the pro-choice position.
Are there really many people having a problem with specializing at age 15? I actually think it is good to do that.
What is criticized (imo rightfully) is specialising and practicing year round at age 9-11. That will cause body imblances and wear down of the body and you will get much more out of throwing the bat in the corner and improve your agility and coordination playing basketball.
Imo that is a strawman to claim that specializing at age 15 is criticized. What is criticized is select ball and year round lessons at age 9.
At 11 other sports is the best thing to build a balanced and athletic body, makes no sense to do ladder drills and lifting to replave that at the age although it might be technically possible. But age 15 I prefer the extra rest and doing sport specific fitness training.
Thus I do think the ideal specialisation age is 14-16. I rarely see the the groups are always specializing at age 11 vs age 18 and imo both are extremes.
Dominik, I believe you're in Europe. Maybe it's different there, I don't know. In the U.S., woe to the kid who is athletic enough to play multiple sports in high school but chooses not to. Here's a sampling of recent articles, all focused on the high school athlete:
www.usatoday.com/story/sports/...-athletes/100589408/
www.washingtonpost.com/sports/...m_term=.31952f981c76
www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/spo...tors-suspicions.html
www.omaha.com/sports/eliminati...f5-978524fb0ada.html
www.nfhs.org/articles/the-impo...sport-participation/
The new study posted by Cabbage had one point that stood out to me -- between 80% and 90% of the athletes who specialized (HS, college, and pro athletes) were happy with their decision. I believe that we each have an inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. If the athletes are happy with their decision, that should be the end of the story. THAT should have been the headline in the press release.
Here in europe it is pretty normal to specialize at 12-13 or even earlier, soccer is really dominant here.
Dominik85 posted:Here in europe it is pretty normal to specialize at 12-13 or even earlier, soccer is really dominant here.
High end youth sports in Europe are club sports not school sports. More and more programs in the US are attempting to switch to the European model. It will destroy high school sports. So far high end soccer, hockey and field hockey players are being told to drop all other sports and don’t play for the high school.
At eleven my son was invited to join two prestigious soccer programs. Both told him he couldn’t play other sports. We walked. As my son said at the time, “No way I’m not playing baseball and basketball.” Both sports mattered more than soccer even though it was his best sport.
Yeah here is only Club sports (albeit not as expensive as tb in the usa)..
Btw was your kid really as good in soccer as he was in baseball? Or was he just relatively better because the level in soccer is not as high in the usa as it is in baseball (because soccer is not a major sport in the usa)?
My 2015 played multiple sports. Physically and mentally it was refreshing to look forward to the different sport seasons. He liked the break from baseball while playing football and visa vera. I am sure there are many professional athletes that played another sport at a very high level and will tell you how it was a benefit.
In reality, in the world of travel baseball, some kids are forced to pick one for multiple reasons. For instance to play on a top tier travel baseball team, a player who also plays football may not be selected by HC due to not being able to commit during Fall Aug-Dec showcase tournaments. Another reason is some baseball HC have the perception that the skill level of a multi-sport player will not keep up with others who are year around.
My 2015 chose a baseball offer his Junior year of high school and that is when he decided to hang up football. Not because of not enjoying the many benefits of playing multiple sports but more to lessen the likelihood of an injury.
It seems that much of the discussion assumes that the kid that specializes has the ability to play another sport at a high level and chooses not to play. There are many kids that specialize because the don't like playing the other sports, or they play rec basketball or soccer, but that isnt really considered as playing other sports because not playing at a high level. Many kids "specialize" because they enjoy the "specialized" sport more than the others or just not good enough to make the other teams. There are also conflicts with overlap of seasons in many cases. Football and Baseball do seem to work much better, but again, if you dont like football and therefore dont play, have you "specialized"? Old Man moment but back in my day, you could do all the sports because there wasn't seasonal overlap, club teams, national travel teams etc. Like most everything else on here, there is not one road to take or a one size fits all way to handle things. If you can and WANT to do multiple sports, by all means do so. If you dont, just build in that down time and recovery that is so critical (IMHO).
I should point out I am looking at HS age and up as specializing, not 9-13 year olds not trying other sports and only playing 1 sport.
2019Dad, love your comment about being happy with their decision. My 2019 son played basketball through Freshman year and then quit sophomore year because he didn't feel like he had the time/ability to prepare for baseball season. It's tough to do adjacent sports that have consecutive or overlapping seasons.
Midwest Mom posted:2019Dad, love your comment about being happy with their decision. My 2019 son played basketball through Freshman year and then quit sophomore year because he didn't feel like he had the time/ability to prepare for baseball season. It's tough to do adjacent sports that have consecutive or overlapping seasons.
My 2019 did the same thing. Loves basketball and is pretty good at it. But wanted to make sure he started on varsity for baseball his Soph year and needed to be there at the 1st of Feb to have a chance. Made the choice and it paid off. This fall decided to not play football so he could attend some of the better events for baseball and be seen more. We'll see if it pays off.
Go44dad posted:If I was athletic enough to be drafted to NFL, pretty sure I would have been good enough to play any other sport I wanted in HS. Surprised it’s only 88%.
In Texas, most HS football coaches mandate a spring sport. And if you are not sure of the sport, you are put in Track. And guess who is assistant track coach?
Our HS has spring football, so all football players are encouraged to stay in the football class all year long. Now track is another thing entirely. They want anybody who can help them out no matter what other sport they're playing at the same time.
My question has always been this....how many 3-sport HS athletes could have been MUCH better in one of them (you typically only play college in 1 sport) if they'd have cut it back to two or even one sport? My son played soccer and baseball. He could have probably played basketball, but there was no way that "non-mandatory" 
AAU and summer basketball would have worked with his travel baseball. Our HS soccer coach wanted him on the team....he said go play baseball, come around when you can in the summer...if not, see you Aug 1st when practice starts....lol
Texas 2 Sons posted:Midwest Mom posted:2019Dad, love your comment about being happy with their decision. My 2019 son played basketball through Freshman year and then quit sophomore year because he didn't feel like he had the time/ability to prepare for baseball season. It's tough to do adjacent sports that have consecutive or overlapping seasons.
My 2019 did the same thing. Loves basketball and is pretty good at it. But wanted to make sure he started on varsity for baseball his Soph year and needed to be there at the 1st of Feb to have a chance. Made the choice and it paid off. This fall decided to not play football so he could attend some of the better events for baseball and be seen more. We'll see if it pays off.
Ditto Texas.
Buckeye 2015 posted:My question has always been this....how many 3-sport HS athletes could have been MUCH better in one of them (you typically only play college in 1 sport) if they'd have cut it back to two or even one sport? My son played soccer and baseball. He could have probably played basketball, but there was no way that "non-mandatory"
I guess my son is the inverse. He was only interested in playing baseball UNTIL he hit HS. Did Football and baseball Freshman year, now he's doing basketball and baseball sophomore year. The amount of legwork and running he's doing in basketball I would THINK this is cross-training for pitching is it not? Since he's shut down from pitching he doesn't really have anything else to do so why not play some basketball?
CaCO3Girl posted:Buckeye 2015 posted:My question has always been this....how many 3-sport HS athletes could have been MUCH better in one of them (you typically only play college in 1 sport) if they'd have cut it back to two or even one sport? My son played soccer and baseball. He could have probably played basketball, but there was no way that "non-mandatory"
I guess my son is the inverse. He was only interested in playing baseball UNTIL he hit HS. Did Football and baseball Freshman year, now he's doing basketball and baseball sophomore year. The amount of legwork and running he's doing in basketball I would THINK this is cross-training for pitching is it not? Since he's shut down from pitching he doesn't really have anything else to do so why not play some basketball?
Nothing like basketball to get them in really good shape, better than baseball or football. That's the 1 thing that makes me wish my son was still playing. The problem for us is that you miss a minimum of 4 weeks of baseball and then any playoffs time. Could miss anywhere from 4-8 weeks of baseball...talk about putting yourself in a big hole.. especially for a MI and 3 hole hitter.
Interesting article, thanks. One thing that wasn't surveyed was GPA. My son up until he started high school participated in 2-5 different sports. Beginning with Jr. High we made him start dropping a few until he was left with 2-3. Main reason was with different practices every day, some conflicting, 2-4 hrs per day of 2-3 different sports, it just wasn't doable while maintaining his grades and homework. Plus throw in my daughter who is a few years younger was involved in her sports and activities, you get the picture, He was forced to "specialize" due to other priorities (namely our sanity). I guarantee you this, there were ZERO intentions on turning pro at this time for the future. Yes he wanted to be a pro ball player, but we/he knew one step at a time: make high school team, try to get some kind of scholarship, play in college and see where that goes.
Interesting to me that every response I have read so far supports that specific athlete's decision. You can cherry pick the article, the information within the article, circumstances, etc., all you want....the fact is, playing more then one sport is typically going to provide a better overall training effect, reduce injury, and minimize the burnout factor. I understand that some players want to play other sports but may not be good enough to make the cut with said sport. In my experience, that does not happen at all in youth sports because of the number of available leagues, teams, etc. There are also a number of sports that are no-cut in high school (at least in my experience). Football and track are best examples. I don't think we have cuts for swimming or wrestling either. IMO, if your child has interest in other sports, let them play as long as they still have interest. Stop worrying about baseball events they might miss or baseball training that will conflict with other sports. Let them enjoy their youth and high school sporting experiences.
IMO, sport specialization is driven by parents and club coaches. As a long-time youth and high school coach, I have seen far more situations where a parent or coach influenced an athlete's decision then an athlete choosing on his own to specialize!
Just our experience...my 2018 has never played fall baseball until this season and that was only to be seen by specific schools on his list. He was a 3-sport athlete until high school, then a 2-sport athlete throughout high school. He is not ranked by PG because his last PG event was prior to HS. He will be attending and playing baseball with a Power 5 school in 2018.
2019Dad posted:I'm sorry, Cabbage, I can't take any of this seriously. From the article: "the average pro athlete specialized at 14.1 years old." LOL, have someone post here -- or anywhere else -- that his child is going single-sport in 8th grade and you will be lambasted, and warned about the dangers of single sport specialization.
Here's some news for Dr. Buckley: pro athletes, on average, are much better athletes than high school athletes. Many of those high school athletes didn't choose to specialize, they just couldn't make the team in multiple sports. It reminds me of the time the LA Times prep sportswriter used Giancarlo Stanton (all-CIF in football, basketball, and baseball in high school) as a perfect example of playing multiple sports. It was great advice for all those high school athletes who are 6'6" 240" with great hands. Absolutely relevant for most kids.
I love the NFL draft stats. Everyone doing track in the spring so they can train for football. What are the stats about the NBA draft? How about pro tennis players? How many of them were three sport athletes in high school?
My problem is that the "specialization is bad" group has an agenda. Data is used selectively to advance the agenda.
My position is: let them do whatever they want. They're kids. If they want to play three sports in high school, go for it. And if they don't, nothing wrong with that either. It's the pro-choice position.
2019 as always you are spot on. Our star senior linebacker committed to Wisconsin plays four, football, basketball, baseball and track. Why? Cause he can! He is a physical freak partially genetics and partially his hard work. Then there is my son... Played football, basketball and baseball his freshman year. He is good enough to do so all four years of high school if he chose to. Problem is unlike our star senior he is not gifted enough to spread himself out like that and excel at anything. Also he is a tackle not a linebacker. Not a body type that is friendly to all sports. So is he supposed to be 275 for football then 215 for basketball and then 240 for baseball? Kind of impossible. Could he be a 275lb enforcer in basketball? Maybe but then he would have to intentionally loaf in practice cause otherwise he would not maintain his football weight and would have to start over every spring. Fact is there are three basic groups. Group 1 which we would all like to be a part of is like our linebacker, so good at something you can play all the sports and still excel at that something - also in group one are the natural born athletes who are just great at everything period. You can't become this, you either are or you aren't! Then there is group 2 which a lot of our kids belong to. They are good enough at something to make it at a higher level but only if the focus on it and sometimes that means specializing. Then there is group 3. These kids aren't going to play high level in anything no matter what they do but they are good high school athletes and might as well play as many sports as possible and enjoy themselves. These are the kids also who can if they want go play something at a small college just cause they love it. Specialization is not a dirty word. Sometimes its just plain necessary.
3and2Fastball posted:Nobody sets out to have a career goal of being a Pizza delivery driver, smoking pot in Mom's basement... Somewhere in between that reality and achieving one's ultimate goal is where the rubber meets the road.... Just how hard did you try?
I wanted to play in the NBA. I can say I gave everything I had and topped out at D1 Basketball. The lessons I learned though have been applied to the rest of my life...
what gets me are the people who just shrug their shoulders and say they aren't a good student and accept less than great grades. It doesn't take that much effort to get A's. Hire a tutor for a fraction of what it costs to play travel ball...
to be truly great at multiple sports, as in good enough to play Power Five in multiple sports, you either need to be an athletic freak or you are sacrificing something somewhere along the line...
I'm cool with my kid specializing, especially if that means he has some time for getting great grades and time to socialize, be a kid, hang with friends and relax a little...
And basketball is the ultimate specialization sport 3and2. I really don't think (unless you are one of the freaks) you can play basketball and other sports at a high level. The ballers are out there 365 days a year. And is there really somebody out there who is going to try and convince me that the NBA guys are where they are now cause they also ran track??? Come on it defies all common sense. You get better at baseball by playing more baseball - not by 'becoming more well rounded' and playing other sports. That's a bunch of nonsense. I am pretty sure any benefit from another sport can also be duplicated in strength and fitness training. And again its a chicken or egg thing. These pros were mulitiple sport athletes cause they could. They were already great. They weren't somehow marginal players who incredibly enough honed their skills magically when exposed to other sports. Its silly. Anybody who really believes playing other sports helped them get where they are is naïve. Even when the athletes themselves make that claim I think society has simply talked them into it. Perception is reality I suppose but someday science will definitively prove that specialization is more advantageous than multiple sports. Til then we will be filled with misleading stats and anecdotal stories.
2020Dad - true enough. The one elite Basketball player I can think of from Wisconsin who played multiple sports was Wesley Matthews Jr. He was All-Conference in soccer and is presently in the NBA
Another elite athlete who comes to mind is Jerred Kelenic. Could he be a D1 wide receiver or DB? Undoubtedly. Probably could be an NFL prospect. Is his devotion to just Baseball harming his development? That is silly, preposterous, and downright ludicrous!
From Kindergarten through 7th/8th Grade, absolutely Kids should try out and play lots of sports. Those that critique high school specialization mostly fall into one of 3 categories: they are out of touch with present day athletics, or they have an agenda to push, or their particular kid was an athletic freak...
Princeton has a two-sport athlete (now a junior).. Starting OF and WR on football team. I think he just broke a record for receptions in a game. Pretty solid baseball player as well. Here's one story:
They should conduct the same study & sample only Dominican Pro Baseball players. Then write a nice long article on the dangers of single sport specialization at an early age........Yeah I think that survey may come out a bit different.
Midwest Mom posted:2019Dad, love your comment about being happy with their decision. My 2019 son played basketball through Freshman year and then quit sophomore year because he didn't feel like he had the time/ability to prepare for baseball season. It's tough to do adjacent sports that have consecutive or overlapping seasons.
This right here!! That's why football and baseball can go together! But touching or overlapping sports... very very hard. Exactly why this year (sophomore) my son will be going to just football and baseball. His choice. Mom is begging him to play basketball and I will totally miss watching him play. But I do believe he is making the best decision for his future.
As previously mentioned my son was cut from basketball soph year. The basketball coach didn’t think he could focus on three sports. He did miss all the off season “optional work.”
My son would have been the best option for starting point guard junior year. But his baseball escalated quickly when he stopped playing basketball everyday during that season. He still played rec ball in a very competitive rec league.
When he stopped playing basketball he stopped running off weight in the winter. Instead of losing weight soph winter he worked out and gained weight (and strength). The following winter he worked with an instructor/former D1 coach and developed a D1 prospect quality swing.
So while he could have played three sports it turned out better he was forced to play two. Sometimes it’s not how good of an athlete you are. Sometimes it’s a matter of how much refinement an athlete can put into his skills. Baseball was year round in high school. Soccer was fall and summer weekdays. In the winter without basketball he had time for physical development.
2020 has played baseball since he was 4/5, but he has also played other sports.
Flag football through 6th grade and then Jr. High football in 7th/8th....season ended yesterday. He had a blast team won, and he played well, but DID NOT GET HURT.
Basketball every winter since 2nd grade.
He is a much better athlete because of it.
But..............this will be his last year of 2/3 sports a year.
Football - Worry about injury and fall time requirements (as conditioning, training, batting need to become more of a priority)
Basketball - Overlaps w/ baseball so is a non issue.
He has a goal, and he has a plan. We shall see.......
The could've/would've game is fun.... could my Kid start at Shortstop or Third Base his Junior & Senior year of High School if he mostly concentrated on Football and Basketball? Undoubtedly. So what, it is high school athletics! That is far outside the point
Let kids be kids and make their own decisions
What does your kid want to do? Is your kid good enough to play multiple sports?
Those two questions should answer everything because what Giancarlo Stanton did has no bearing on what you're doing. What Johnny down the street is doing has no bearing on what you're doing. I was named head baseball coach over the summer at my school. The baseball team had gotten to the point very few kids played other sports. First thing I told them when I took over is if you want to play another sport then you better tryout for it. If you want to specialize because baseball is the sport you love and you don't like other sports then do that. But do NOT miss out on another sport because you're expected to specialize. I fully believe that other sports help you in all sports. I fully believe if it wasn't for the offensive and defensive lineman drills I did in football I wouldn't have played college baseball. I don't care about studies and what other people have done because it's such an individualized issue. If you want to play and you have the talent the rest will work itself out.
coach2709 posted:What does your kid want to do? Is your kid good enough to play multiple sports?
Those two questions should answer everything because what Giancarlo Stanton did has no bearing on what you're doing. What Johnny down the street is doing has no bearing on what you're doing. I was named head baseball coach over the summer at my school. The baseball team had gotten to the point very few kids played other sports. First thing I told them when I took over is if you want to play another sport then you better tryout for it. If you want to specialize because baseball is the sport you love and you don't like other sports then do that. But do NOT miss out on another sport because you're expected to specialize. I fully believe that other sports help you in all sports. I fully believe if it wasn't for the offensive and defensive lineman drills I did in football I wouldn't have played college baseball. I don't care about studies and what other people have done because it's such an individualized issue. If you want to play and you have the talent the rest will work itself out.
More coaches should be like you. I've seen both. Some say specialize, others say you should play another sport. Utilmately it has to be what the player wants.
Midwest Mom posted:coach2709 posted:What does your kid want to do? Is your kid good enough to play multiple sports?
Those two questions should answer everything because what Giancarlo Stanton did has no bearing on what you're doing. What Johnny down the street is doing has no bearing on what you're doing. I was named head baseball coach over the summer at my school. The baseball team had gotten to the point very few kids played other sports. First thing I told them when I took over is if you want to play another sport then you better tryout for it. If you want to specialize because baseball is the sport you love and you don't like other sports then do that. But do NOT miss out on another sport because you're expected to specialize. I fully believe that other sports help you in all sports. I fully believe if it wasn't for the offensive and defensive lineman drills I did in football I wouldn't have played college baseball. I don't care about studies and what other people have done because it's such an individualized issue. If you want to play and you have the talent the rest will work itself out.
More coaches should be like you. I've seen both. Some say specialize, others say you should play another sport. Utilmately it has to be what the player wants.
Or what is best for the player... Sometimes kids don't always see things clearly. It is still our job as parents to guide them a bit.
coach2709 posted:What does your kid want to do? Is your kid good enough to play multiple sports?
Those two questions should answer everything because what Giancarlo Stanton did has no bearing on what you're doing. What Johnny down the street is doing has no bearing on what you're doing. I was named head baseball coach over the summer at my school. The baseball team had gotten to the point very few kids played other sports. First thing I told them when I took over is if you want to play another sport then you better tryout for it. If you want to specialize because baseball is the sport you love and you don't like other sports then do that. But do NOT miss out on another sport because you're expected to specialize. I fully believe that other sports help you in all sports. I fully believe if it wasn't for the offensive and defensive lineman drills I did in football I wouldn't have played college baseball. I don't care about studies and what other people have done because it's such an individualized issue. If you want to play and you have the talent the rest will work itself out.
Very good points, I agree with you on everything except for us personally education must be a top priority, and as you mentioned to each their own. You can never go wrong with getting a good education, whether high school or college. If I remember correctly the referenced article was a retrospective study. Problem is that parents are trying to determine the future for their son, how many additional sports to be involved, grades, types of classes taken. It would be fantastic if we knew our kid was going to make it in MLB, or they will end up as a "group3" (from a previous reply), then it will be easier to determine whether to dedicate time and effort into 1 sport. That being said, I still believe until high school, to play as many sports as possible while maintaining an acceptable GPA (some families a "C" is acceptable, others want an"A") while taking challenging core classes.
