Youth sport specialisation: the need for an evidence-based definition

Sport specialisation, conceptually understood to involve mono-training and repetition for the purpose of skill acquisition and athlete development for a single sport, is increasingly common in youth sports. However, it has not always been this way. Over the past 30 years, research on expertise and skill acquisition has profoundly influenced the focus and structure of youth sport programme. Particularly, Ericsson, Kramp and Tesch-Romer’s (1993) work in music renewed research interests related to the importance of deliberate practice in the development of expertise.1 Some studies in sport, using retrospective questionnaires, suggested that high volume of intense, sport-specific practice at a young age is necessary to attain expertise in one sport.2 This body of research has promoted the idea that a large quantity of intense sport-specific practice and early specialisation is a logical pathway towards adult elite sport performance, and has contributed to the popularity of youth sport specialisation. Simultaneously, biographical studies of elite level athletes suggested that their childhood sport experiences involved sport-specific practice, and play activities and engagement in various sports. In contrast with the early specialisation approach, Cote (1999) defined sampling as an early sport participation environment characterised by diversity, both within (eg, play, practice) and between sports.3 Considering both distinctive lines of research led to equivocal results, Cote, Ericsson and Law (2005) …