Had no idea.
Bruce, did you play other sports growing up or just baseball? What are your thoughts on proper age, if any, for sports specialization?
I played Basketball, Tennis, Golf, Bowling. I never played organized Football, just with my friends. My HS FB team was not that great and I didn't want to get injured for no reason. I was All-Division and averaged 21 points a game in HS Basketball. Bowling I averaged 203 in the league I bowled in. Golf when I was young I was an 70s-80s type player and Dad kinda wished I concentrated on that. Tennis I made the team in HS, but had no time to actually play. In the Northeast you couldn't play Baseball all year.
When I got to State almost all those guys were multi sport athletes in HS. I did more practice in Baseball than any other sport starting at about 13. I still played the other sports with a good amount of Basketball in the colder months. I still think during your growing years trying to concentrate on mechanics is problematic due to the constantly changing size and strength of your body. I played Varsity Baseball all 4 years of HS but my freshman and sophomore years were totally different from how much I grew in those 4 years. ( I was 13 when I started HS) I wasn't in full power mode those first 2 years just because I was smaller and weaker. Each year I went through some major changes in my approach due to those physical changes. So I went from a .350 singles type hitter to a .580 power hitter in those 4 years. So mechanics and even mental approach had to change due to physical changes.
Therefore I don't believe in early exclusive concentration in a single sport. I did not play organized baseball until I was 8. That was the earliest league available in my town. I didn't really face pitching in "hardball" until then. Only playground stickball and wiffle ball did we actually pitch to each other.
Burnout is real and discovery of other sports helps prevent that. The diversity and socialization you can get from playing multiple sports is beneficial. My Dad was much more involved with my Baseball, Golf and Bowling and more in the background on my other sports. With that said I was pretty good in almost any sport I tried. I had a few options and maybe that is not realistic to all people so concentration could happen earlier.
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