Kids on overdrive, overuse & overspecialization

A recent Wall Street Journal article (Red Flag on Kids, Sports and Injuries, April 1, 2010) describes efforts by surgeons and professional athletes to combat injuries in youth sports caused by overuse and over-specialization. The article talks about pushing against the prevailing winds to specialize.

"From baseball to volleyball, kids are increasingly trying to attain mastery of a sport by specializing. That has made certain sports increasingly competitive, further encouraging kids—backed by parents—to train harder and longer, parents and sports trainers say.

"'There's more emphasis on playing one sport. Because it's so competitive you almost have to focus on one sport,' says Mr. Hall. Dr. Andrews says orthopedic surgeons are partially to blame for overuse injuries, having focused largely on developing new surgical techniques but not on promoting prevention. 'We've worked on better ways to fix people—that was our job—but our job is more extensive than that,' he says. 'Finally we realized that.'"