The guidelines recommend not specializing in one sports and limiting participation in a single sport to less than eight months a year and fewer hours per week than a child’s age.
Eric Post, of the Madison-based University of Wisconsin, and colleagues conducted a case-controlled study of 989 female athletes and 1,022 male athletes between 12-years-old and 18-years-old.
The athletes completed a questionnaire concerning their specialization, yearly and weekly participation and injury history. Researchers classified specialization as low, moderate or high on a three-point scale.
Researchers classified athletes as either meeting or exceeding recommendations.
Here’s what they found.
1. Highly specialized athletes were more likely to report a previous or overuse injury in the past year, compared to the low specialization group.
2. Athletes who played a single sport more than eight months of the year were more likely to report an upper or lower extremity overuse injury.
3. Athletes that played a sport for more hours than their age were more likely to report an injury of any type.
Researchers concluded, “High levels of specialization were associated with a history of injuries, independent of age, sex and weekly organized sport volume. Athletes who exceeded volume recommendations were more likely to have a history of overuse injuries.”
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