TITLE:
Early Specialization or Early Athletic Competencies? Literature Update and Methodological Considerations
AUTHORS:
Italo Sannicandro, Francesca D’Elia
KEYWORDS:
Early Specialization, Long-Term Athletic Development, Health, Youth Sport
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Physical Education,
Vol.12 No.4,
November
7,
2022
ABSTRACT: The early sport specialization is characterized as intensive year-round training and/or competition, involving participation in a single sport that typicallybegins in the prepubertal years.In recent years, most of the major nationalsocieties and international sportsand athletic associations, federations, andorganizations have released position statements advising against the practiceof early specialization amongst youth sports. Youth sports training must necessarily take into account the cultural and social factors of each country. Over the last decades, several development models have been structured, integrated,andimplemented, predominantly focusing upon the idea ofthesporting talentmodel and framework. The practitioners emphasised the importance of varietyandparticipation in a large range of sports and activities. This was identified asfundamental and akeyaspect of long-term athletic development for developingwell-roundedathleteswhilst reducing burnout in one sport. This study describesthe change in the methodological paradigm in the youth sports training model by analyzing the most recent literature; it aims to describe the methodological orientation that must distinguish long-term training from the risk of early specialization.