Developing Athletes: Early Specialisation and what parents misunderstand

Early specialisation — what parents misunderstand

Early specialisation sounds sensible on the surface.
“If my child wants to be great at one sport, shouldn’t they do more of that sport?”

The issue isn’t commitment.
It’s context — and timing.

To understand why early specialisation is now creating problems, you first need to understand how junior sport used to work.

How it used to work (and why it mattered)

Not that long ago, variety was baked in.

Footy in winter.
Cricket in summer.

I mean it's a cliche...but it was also just so TRUE.

That wasn’t a long-term athlete development model — it was just life.

On top of club sport, kids were getting huge movement exposure at school:

• PE classes playing everything

• Athletics carnivals

• Cross country

• Hockey, lacrosse, basketball, volleyball, softball, badminton, tennis

You weren’t good at all of them.
That didn’t matter.

You were:

• Sprinting

• Jumping

• Rotating

• Decelerating

• Changing direction

• Falling, bracing, reacting

Without anyone calling it “athletic development”.

It just happened.

What’s changed

Fast forward to now.

Many sports — especially basketball, soccer and netball — no longer have an off-season.

A common weekly setup now looks like:

• Club team

• Representative team

• School or academy program

• Extra skills sessions layered on top

Basketball isn’t a winter sport anymore.
It’s a 12-month-a-year commitment.

Outside of that?

• Maybe swimming lessons

• Maybe light PE

• And very little else

So instead of:

Sport + variety + general movement

We now have:

One sport + repetition + pressure

More training, less development

Here’s the uncomfortable part.

Many young athletes today are training more than ever, yet building less physical resilience.

Why?

• Same movements

• Same joints

• Same loading patterns

• Bodies growing faster than muscles and tendons can adapt

What used to be balanced by seasonal change and different sports is now replaced by constant repetition.

That’s not toughness.
That’s accumulated stress.

Why “we were fine back then”

Parents often say:

“But we trained heaps when we were kids and didn’t get injured.”

True — but you weren’t doing the same thing all year.

Your body got:

• Natural breaks

• Different movement demands

• Time away from dominant patterns

Today’s kids often don’t.

So when knee pain, hip issues, back pain or stress fractures appear at 13–16, it’s not because kids are weaker.

It’s because the system has changed.

Where most programs fall short

Sport-specific training develops skills.
It does not automatically develop bodies.

What’s often missing is:

• Speed mechanics

• Change of direction under control

• Strength through full ranges

• Tendon and joint capacity

• The ability to absorb force, not just produce it

That’s where many young athletes break down.

What we actually focus on in Developing Athletes

Our Developing Athletes program isn’t about replacing sport.

It’s about supporting it.

We deliberately train the things sport assumes — but rarely builds well:

• Speed & acceleration
  Teaching athletes how to sprint efficiently, not just “run more”

• Change of direction & deceleration
  Learning how to slow down, cut, plant and re-accelerate safely

• Strength training
  Squats, hinges, pushes, pulls — building a base that protects joints and improves performance

• Isometrics & tissue capacity
  Holding positions under load to strengthen tendons, joints and control — critical during growth spurts

• Movement quality & coordination
  Teaching athletes how to move well before loading them heavier or faster

This work doesn’t make kids slower.
It doesn’t “bulk them up”.
And it doesn’t distract from skill development.

It gives them a body that can handle the demands of modern sport.

Development beats domination

The goal isn’t to dominate Under-12s.

The goal is to still be improving at:
17
18
19

That requires:

• Strong foundations

• Smart loading

• Variety within training

• A long-term view of progress

Early specialisation often confuses short-term success with long-term development.

They’re not the same thing.

A message for parents

Early specialisation isn’t commitment.
It’s often uncertainty disguised as effort.

A smarter approach builds:

• Better athletes

• Healthier bodies

• Kids who still want to train and compete years from now

Call to action

If you’re not sure whether your child’s current training is supporting their long-term development — not just their next season, that’s exactly the conversation we have every week.

👉 Book a Developing Athlete consult and let’s map out a smarter path forward — one that keeps them moving, improving, and enjoying sport for years to come.