EARLY OR LATE SPECIALIZATION IN SPORT? PROS AND CONS Early or Late specialization in Sport? Pros and Cons
Abstract
The aim of this review was to summarize current knowledge about early and late specialization in sport and compare these two paths to elite sport performance. We want to deal with positive and negative aspects of early and late specialization in sport and discuss these aspects from the practical point of view.
We found, that there is not clear opinion which of these two paths is better. But due to the relatively large amount of early specialization negative consequences, late specialization is more appropriate way to achieve elite sport performance.
However the late specialization can be more demanding in terms of financial and time requirements. Also most of the articles are not based on empirically obtained data.
Therefore we need more empirical studies, specifically with longitudinal design, to answer the question, which path to elite sport performance is more efficient.