Abstract
Sport researchers have warned about the lack of a clear and consistent definition of early specialization, while others have raised concerns around the validity of methods used to classify athletes as ‘specializers’. The current investigation includes two studies examining the implications of varying classification methods for exploring both specialization and early specialization in sport. Study 1 examined whether different approaches to defining and measuring specialization affected the classification of athletes throughout development and provided a ‘profile’ of the sample in terms of developmental milestones related to specialization. Results indicated the proportion of athletes classified as specializers varied depending on the method used and athletes generally met specialization milestones after the age of 12. Study 2 examined the proportions of athletes who achieved ‘elite’, ‘pre-elite’, and ‘non-elite’ status in adulthood who were early specializers as determined by different methods. Results showed the method used changed the proportion of athletes classified as specializers at each level and there was no clear advantage or disadvantage to being a specializer. Combined, these studies provide intriguing data regarding the implications of different measures for assessing specialization in young athletes.
Highlights
Much of the theoretical rationale for early specialization is found in the deliberate practice framework [9]
Information collected from the Developmental History of Athletes Questionnaire (DHAQ) was used to classify athletes as specializers at each age of development based on the three methods described above
Based on the average age of first participation in year-round training (~14 years), exclusion of other sports (~15 years) and the small percentage of athletes who met these milestones at 12 years of age or earlier, specialization (12 years of age or earlier) does not appear to be overly prevalent in this sample of athletes
Summary
Specialization has been defined many ways, with little consistency between studies [1]. In a study on the prevalence of specialization and injury history, Bell and colleagues [22] had high school students in the United States complete two different specialization classification tools, including a selfreport as a ‘single sport’ or ‘multi-sport’ athlete, and the Sport Specialization Scale; both methods have been used in prior research to distinguish specializers from non-specializers. They found little agreement between the classification methods, with only 12% of students being classified as both single-sport and highly specialized and 26% being classified as multi-sport and low specialization. This investigation includes two studies, described below, examining the implications of varying classification methods for exploring both specialization and early specialization in sport
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