Early Specialization in Sports Increases Risks of Serious Injury Among Teen Athletes

Most parents genuinely want the best for their children. There are, however, some parents who have unfulfilled ambitions and they use their children to achieve them. This often is the reason why there are parents who push and push their children to do well in school to excel in extracurricular activities such as sports. This, a recent study said, could lead to many disappointments later on.

Based on the findings of a study produced by the University of Wisconsin published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine this June, there was a trend towards specialization when it came to youth sports.

The study covered the cases of 302 high school student-athletes, and they categorized into different specializations and the number of sports they participated in. Among the 302 cases, 34.8 per cent of or 105 ranked as low specialization, 87 or 28.8 per cent were moderately specialized, and 110 or 36.4 per cent were defined as being highly specialized.

It was discovered that the teens in the highly specialized category were more than twice more likely than the other categories to experience overuse knee and hip injuries. When a young athlete engages in a single sport for more than eight months annually, there's a higher chance of him or her getting high injuries.

The researchers noted in their study that parents are mostly responsible for getting their children to engage in specialized sports very early in their lives. They said that this is understandable because parents worry that if they don't push their kids to specialize early, they will lose the chance to play professional late on. However, what parents should consider that they are also subjecting their kids to higher risks of injury, and this can lead to failed hopes and expectations later on.

While it is important to encourage children to do the best that they can, it's even more important to keep in mind that children should not be forced to do anything they do not enjoy or feel stressed over. What should be done is to teach children to be disciplined, and at the same time consider what the child really wants to do or what he or she is actually good at. Parents should remember that anything forced is less desired. If the constant reminders to excel, to perform well, or to practice often are made too frequently, the effect on the child may become counterproductive.