Common Training
Common Training
Frank Russel, Director of Athletics
The American athletic model often promotes single-sport, high-level, year-round competition with the goal of earning a college scholarship. While this approach may seem appealing, it is fundamentally flawed when it comes to fostering athletic flourishing and proper development.
Liberty Common Athletics advocates a different path – one exposing adolescents to a variety of sports and skills. This approach encourages development of well-rounded athletes. Participating in multiple sports allows young athletes to build a broad range of locomotor and athletic skills, improving their overall physical literacy. Furthermore, a multi-sport approach significantly reduces the risk of overuse injuries common in those who specialize in a single sport at an early age.
Herein, I will highlight the risks associated with early-sport specialization and the importance of engaging in multiple sports for long-term athletic success and personal growth.
The Risk of Early Sport Specialization
The heightened risk of overuse injury in developing children is just beginning to be explored. In a 2020 study published by the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers conducted a longitudinal study revealing year-round single-sport adolescent athletes are more prone to injuries compared to their counterparts who participate in multiple sports or rest in between seasons. This finding makes sense when examining the load placed on athletes during games and practices. The volume of running, jumping, and cutting places large amounts of force on the body’s ligaments and bones. Adolescents do not yet have the proper physical development to be able to handle this kind of load.
Placing a large amount of stress over a long period with limited recovery or alternative forms of activity ultimately leads to overuse injuries as the body fails to adapt to the load. The most prominent example of this is baseball. Pitching is an unnatural motion placing enormous amounts of strain on the elbow and shoulder. Current trends are showing a large uptick in Tommy John surgeries for kids in high school and younger. By 2014, 67.4% of Tommy John surgeries were performed on athletes ages 16–20. This increase in young athletes undergoing surgery highlights the risk of early sport specialization.
Another risk more difficult to study but frequently observed, is burnout. The National Strength and Conditioning Association describes burnout as “a syndrome that results from chronic stress and lack of rest and recovery”. It can present in various physical and mental forms, such as feeling overwhelmed or experiencing an increased heart rate. Competing year-round in a single sport leaves little room for adequate rest and has the potential to compound with stress and other issues in a young athlete’s life. Switching to a different sport allows athletes the mental and physical rest necessary to recover before their next season.
Common Training
Playing multiple sports exposes students to a large variety of athletic movements and skills which can be applied across different sports. This can be seen by the large number of professional athletes who credit their success to playing multiple sports growing up. For example, Stephen Neal, a three-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, wrestled through college and won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling. He never played a down of football until he was signed as an undrafted free agent. Similarly, many NFL players, such as Nick Chubb, have track and field state titles in their list of accolades.
The added benefit of participating in other sports is it forces athletes to understand various tactics and strategies that can be used in a different sport. Lacrosse defensive strategies such as sliding to the ball, putting a stick in passing lanes, and staying spaced translate to soccer. One of the greatest things I did for my wrestling career was to play golf in the offseason. At a glance, these two sports are worlds apart, but the mental fortitude required in golf is a valuable skill. In golf, you cannot let your last shot impact your current one, which is a lesson I carried over with me to wrestling, a sport where mental and physical resiliency are key.
While the current year-round approach might seem like the only path towards being competitive in a young athlete’s chosen sport, it does come at a cost. The cost being the risks of overuse injuries and burnout often strike before the young athlete has the opportunity to find a sport they are passionate about. Common training, a methodology focused on a sustainable approach of rest and multi-sport training, will allow the athlete to grow in their abilities and enjoy their time doing it. I strongly encourage students at Liberty to step out of their comfort zones and explore a sport they have never tried before. They will become better student-athletes through the lessons learned across various sports. One of the best aspects of high school athletics is being a part of meaningful competition on a team united by a shared goal. Students only have four years to experience this unique opportunity and they should take every available opportunity to learn and grow from various sports.
Jayanthi, Neeru, et al. “Risk of Injuries Associated with Sport Specialization and Intense Training Patterns in Young Athletes: A Longitudinal Clinical Case-Control Study.” Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 25 June 2020, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7318830/.
Baechle, Thomas. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. 4th ed., Human Kinetics, 1989.
Olumuyiwa A. Idowu, Haroutioun H. Boyajian, Kevin Lindsay-Rivera, Cody S. Lee, Michael J. Lee, Lewis L. Shi, Aravind Athiviraham, Trends of Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction in the United States from 2003 to 2014: Analysis of 3,133 Patients, Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation, Volume 2, Issue 6, 2020, Pages e705-e710, ISSN 2666-061X,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asmr.2020.05.005.