Specialization and Professionalism in Youth Sports

About a month ago, I had the good fortune to visit the Birmingham office of world-renowned orthopedic surgeon Jim Andrews.  You may have heard of him.  He's operated on a lot of professional athletes.

He's the one that reconstructed the knee of Robert Griffin III, better known as RG3.  He rebuilt the destroyed shoulder of Drew Brees.  Most said that Brees would never play again.

Tiger Woods.  Michael Jordan.  Trent Richardson.  Adrian Peterson, Tom Brady, Albert Pujols, Jack Nicklaus, Brett Favre, Bo Jackson, Reggie Bush, Hope Solo, and the list goes on and on.

So you get the idea that maybe Dr. Andrews is a big deal and you're right.  And since all these athletes whose careers depend on his work seek him out, you might assume that he's good.  You'd be right there too.

Although he does more surgery on average Joe's than all the pro's, I wasn't there seeking his professional services.  And I can claim only a minor acquaintance with the good doctor.  I was there visiting with my friend Kevin Wilk, Dr. Andrews' right-hand-man who runs the physical therapy clinic downstairs.  

Currently, Dr. Andrews is on a crusade to reduce sports injuries in young folks.  Dr. Andrews says "I started seeing a sharp increase in youth sports injuries, particularly baseball, starting around 2000."

We've seen the same thing around here and a group of our athletic trainers was talking about that topic just the other day.   We all agreed that we had never seen as many ACL injuries on pre-high school age kids. 

The same is true for Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) injuries.  That's the elbow ligament that leads to the "Tommy John Surgery."  We're seeing more of those injuries at all levels.  At last count, 17 Major League Baseball players had serious UCL injuries since spring training this year.

According to Dr. Andrews, the two main reasons for the sharp increase in youth sports injuries are specialization and professionalism.

Specialization means playing the same sport year-round.  At some point, everybody is going to focus on one sport.  I would suggest that point should not arrive until sometime after high school graduation.

Playing the same sport year round is just too much, especially for children and adolescents.  Playing the same sport leads quickly to overuse and overuse is the main ingredient to many injuries, most certainly for the UCL injuries that we're seeing.

Young athletes need diversity to properly develop the all-important athleticism.  They need core strength and balanced musculature.  They need time off from sport.  Diversity, stability, and proper rest will cause in a big drop in these injuries.  

Professionalism is training young kids the same way professional athletes train.  Think about it--some of these kids are going through the same kind of workouts that a professional athlete would do.  Parents are hiring personal trainers with the hope/promise that a college scholarship and professional career are going to be the result.

They are most often wrong.  Less than 1% of high school athletes make it to college athletics.  Less than that are on any kind of scholarship.  And about .6% of college athletes on full scholarship make it to the pro's.  

You're better off hiring an English coach, a science coach, and a math coach.  There are a lot more academic scholarships than athletic scholarships.

There are exceptions.   Good personal trainers can motivate a youngster that may not be prone to exercise regularly.  Just like good teachers everywhere, they can teach the right way to do things.

Throwing a curveball is a very complex endeavor.  Good mechanics are essential and are best taught by a professional instructor.

Dr. Andrews says that "my rule of thumb is, don't throw the curveball until you can shave, until your bone structure has matured...."  Other Andrews Rules:  Avoid the radar gun and be careful with showcases.  He calls them "show-off" cases and injuries are rampant in those.

I would add that kids should play everything they have time for, avoid those activities that cost thousands of dollars per year, and make sure it's always fun.

When it stops being fun, go do something else.