I have parents tell me all the time, “My kid only plays basketball. Isn’t that great? I know they are going to get a college scholarship.”
This usually makes me reflect back on my own career. I played basketball 24/7 since I was 11 years old. That is all I did. But by the time I reached my junior year of High School, my body started to hurt. I had the beginning stages of knee tendonitis. My ankle hurt constantly and my back was always tight. But worst of all, I thought about basketball ALL THE TIME!
I had no outlet.
My freshman year of HS, I was approached by the volleyball coach and she asked me if I was interested in playing. I immediately said no, thinking that if I played another sport besides basketball, it would hurt my chances of a college career.
Little did I know, I was mistaken. After becoming a bit wiser and studying other athletes, I came to the realization that they all played multiple sports in HS.
Why is that?
Well, the answer is quite simple.
The body’s of multi-sport athletes are more balanced.
This means that while their bodies are still in the growing stage, they do not repeat the same movements again and again, eventually wearing down. Instead, they perform certain movements for a couple months and then they perform a whole different set of movements the next couple months.
Playing multiple sports can also directly correlate with the player improving on the court. For instance, playing soccer helps with court vision, angles on the field/court (extremely similar), and improved footwork. Playing football helps with speed, strength, and physicality. And playing volleyball can help with increasing a player’s vertical and their trust in their team.
So, what am I trying to say? It is quite simple. It is good to be a multi-sport athlete. Even if you are trying to specialize and go to college for one specific sport, it is still not a bad thing to be a multi-sport athlete.
I advise all of my young athletes to play multiple sports. If they truly want to specialize in one sport, stop with the multiple sports after your sophomore year of High School. If you feel like you are having a lot of success with both or you just enjoy both, then keep playing both, but make sure it doesn’t come at the expense of your mental or physical health.
So play that additional sport that you love and enjoy! It just might help you
Coach Connor
CF Hoops
*(Scott Ward, Sport, Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0))
Comments