Generalize over Specialize: Examining the Long-Term Athlete Development Model to Optimize Youth Athlete Development

Abstract

At the youth level, there is an ongoing debate between two paradigms concerning the development of athletic performance: early sport specialization vs. diversification. Early sport specialization (i.e., intense training in one specific sport) can lead to high-level performance, especially for sports that have a lower age at peak performance (e.g., women’s gymnastics); however, there are many drawbacks including an increased risk for injury and burnout. Consequently, there has been a push for diversification, wherein young athletes participate in several sports early on and gradually specialize overtime. This process ensures that children develop many fundamental motor skills that become the building blocks for more specialized sport skills. One model that has adopted this idea is the Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the LTAD model and explain how physical education teachers and youth sport coaches can implement the model into their curriculum and programs.