Written by Rich Saxton
Does becoming highly specialised at a young age give young athletes an advantage? Or could spending more time developing a broad range of sporting skills actually be part of the journey towards elite performance?
A fascinating study by De Bosscher, Descheemaeker and Shibli (2023) looked at exactly this question, examining 2,838 world-class athletes across 44 Olympic sports and 13 countries.
The results provide an interesting perspective on when elite athletes started their sport and, importantly, when they began to specialise.
Starting a sport isn't the same as specialising
One of the most important points from the study is the distinction between starting a sport and specialising in it.
Across the athletes studied, the average age at which athletes started their current sport was 10.6 years, while the average age at which they decided to focus on that sport was 15.6 years. This represents an average period of almost five years between starting the sport and specialising in it.
That period can provide young athletes with an opportunity to develop a broad range of physical, technical and movement skills before committing more heavily to one sport.
And the important point is that there isn't one universal age at which athletes should specialise.
The study found substantial differences between sports, and considerable variation between individual athletes within the same sport.
Some sports specialise much earlier
The chart highlights some striking differences.
Sports such as artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and synchronised swimming show relatively early specialisation, with average specialisation ages around 11–12 years.
At the other end of the spectrum, sports including triathlon, shooting, archery and bobsleigh show much later specialisation, with average ages around 20–22 years.
Between these extremes are sports such as tennis, swimming, football, hockey, athletics, rowing and cycling.
This makes intuitive sense when we consider the different demands of each sport.
Gymnastics, for example, involves highly technical skills and physical qualities that may take many years to develop. Other sports rely heavily on physical maturation, strength, endurance, tactical development or a combination of skills that can continue developing well into adolescence and adulthood.
The pathway to elite sport is therefore highly sport-specific.
What about playing multiple sports?
One of the most interesting findings is the amount of time many athletes spent before specialising.
The researchers identified an average 4.9-year period of multiple-sport sampling between starting their current sport and focusing more specifically on it.
This doesn't mean that every young athlete needs to play several sports until a particular age.
Instead, it challenges the idea that early commitment to a single sport is automatically necessary for elite development.
Playing different sports can expose young athletes to different movement patterns, coordination demands, physical qualities and competitive environments.
For example, a young athlete who plays football, tennis and athletics might develop a different combination of agility, acceleration, coordination, balance and decision-making skills compared with someone who only participates in one sport.
Those experiences can potentially contribute to their development when they eventually focus more heavily on a particular sport.
But early specialisation isn't necessarily wrong
It's important not to take the findings as evidence that early specialisation is always bad.
The study included sports where early specialisation is relatively common, and the authors emphasise that talent-development approaches need to consider the characteristics of individual sports.
There is also substantial individual variation.
Two athletes competing in the same sport may follow very different developmental pathways and still reach a high level.
Therefore, rather than asking:
“What age should every child specialise?”
a more useful question may be:
“What does this individual athlete need at this stage of their development?”
Development should come before performance
For coaches, parents and clinicians working with young athletes, this distinction is particularly important.
A young athlete's development shouldn't simply be measured by how quickly they can perform at their sport.
We should also consider:
How well are they moving?
Are they developing strength and coordination?
Are they coping with their training load?
Are they recovering adequately?
Are they enjoying their sport?
Are they developing the physical qualities required for their future sport?
Are they able to progress without repeatedly breaking down with injury?
Young athletes are not simply smaller versions of adult athletes. Their bodies and physical capacities are continually changing throughout childhood and adolescence.
This means that rehabilitation, strength and conditioning and injury prevention should also be adapted to the athlete's stage of development.
What does this mean for young athletes?
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this research is that there is no single pathway to elite sport.
Some athletes specialise early. Others take considerably longer.
The research shows that world-class athletes across different Olympic sports have followed very different developmental pathways, with starting and specialisation ages varying substantially between sports.
For young athletes, the focus should therefore be on developing the person as well as the performer.
Building a strong physical foundation, developing movement skills, maintaining enjoyment and gradually increasing the demands of training can all form part of a long-term approach to sporting development.
At Run Serve Health, this is particularly relevant when assessing and rehabilitating young athletes. Our aim isn't simply to get a young athlete back onto the pitch, court or track, it's to understand where they are in their development and what they need next.
Because the goal isn't just to perform today.
It's to build an athlete who can continue performing tomorrow.
Reference
De Bosscher, V., Descheemaeker, K. & Shibli, S. (2023). Starting and Specialisation Ages of Elite Athletes across Olympic Sports: An International Cross-sectional Study. European Journal of Sport Sciences, 3(5), 9–19.