Sawyer Robertson

[chuckster.sixpack]

Again, I wonder if you actually read my first post. Because I did not say they all specialize in 1 sport after 6th grade.

And I’m guessing you just aren’t understanding that the specialization trend has just started, so a lot of the kids who have done it aren’t old enough to be pros yet. Thus no data.

Please don’t make me explain this again.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

"This new wave of Uber competitive sports is only about 20 years old"

So this is a 20-year trend, but 22-year old kids aren't old enough to fit into the last 20-years of data? How many generations need to pass through before we have acceptable data for you?

Kids didn’t start specializing until the mid-2000s for the most part. So it stands to reason that most all professionals right now played multiple sports.

A lot of it came about because of Malcolm Gladwell’s book about the 10,000 hour rule, which was published in 2008.

Most all the Latino players played nothing but baseball. So there are data points everywhere. Of course they aren’t playing travel ball tournaments, they are practicing athletic movements.

The key to all of it is making sure you develop athleticism, and get as much experience as possible in different situations. And proper rest/recovery. “Play multiple sports” is good advice for most kids, but it’s important to look deeper.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

Nope. If he’s on the football roster, he’s got to be on football scholarship or no scholarship.

I guess the guys who run the 247 site, you know the guys who are paid to know recruiting, are wrong then.

 

[aTotal360]

Nope. If he’s on the football roster, he’s got to be on football scholarship or no scholarship.

Correct.

 

[patdog]

I guess the guys who run the 247 site, you know the guys who are paid to know recruiting, are wrong then.

If that's what they're saying, then yes, they're wrong.

 

[BA Dog]

Just can't make it happen anymore. There's too much sport specific training that you get at that age, and folks get behind.

I think this mostly hurts athletes who want to play baseball. Guys are getting reps year round now with all of the travel ball being played. If you want to play one of the other big three sports you get behind.

I'm a big proponent of kids playing all sports, but in this day and age, that ends at 6th grade.

Im a huge believer in playing multiple sports also. I know bigger high schools discourage kids from playing multiple sports and it is a shame and mistake. If I had not played basketball my junior and senior years I would not have been able to play college football at the level I did. I’m convinced basketball is the best thing an offensive or defensive lineman can do to improve his footwork and quickness. I can’t believe that it is bad for skill positions either. College coaches get excited when they find out the football player they are recruiting also plays basketball because of the skills that translate.

 

[Perd Hapley]

He did not come in early in that class because he was finishing his senior baseball season. If you recall he missed spring ball and that is why he was a little behind. All he has had is fall ball, spring ball and this past fall. This spring will be his second spring. He was not an early enrollee

And that wasn’t smart. If you are premier QB recruit in FBS, you’re essentially setting yourself back a whole year by not graduating HS in December. Fair or not, that is pretty much the expectation now at that position.

 

[Perd Hapley]

I agree with you about the difficulty of playing two sports in college. However there are tons of stats to back up the fact that almost every single pro athlete were multiple sport stars in high school, and that the kids that specialize early usually flame out.

I would question if that is a “chicken or the egg” situation. Pro athletes are by very definition built differently from the other 99.9% of athletes.

Are pro athletes more successful BECAUSE they played multiple sports growing up, or were they so athletic to begin with that they were able to be successful at multiple sports as far as high school, without having to work nearly as hard at being good at any specific one due to natural athleticism?

I mean, if you took Michael Vick or Bo Jackson, and lets pretend neither one ever played a single competitive sport until their senior year of high school. You throw both of them out onto a baseball field and a football field for the first time when they are 18 years old. Guess what….they’d still dominate based on pure genetic superiority. That’s most every pro athlete in a nutshell. Not all have Mike Vick / Bo Jackson athleticism, but they are almost all so naturally gifted that the gap between them and their high school counterparts was insurmountable when they were locked in.