To Play or Not to Play...

 
A lot of my 8th grade players and parents have been chatting with me lately about whether it’s time to focus on just softball. My answer? Heck no! There are SO MANY reasons it’s important for youth athletes AND high school athletes to play multiple sports. It’s so unfortunate that there are so many coaches who are pushing early specialization.
 
 
1) Sport specialization hurts you more than it helps you! When we only play one sport, we are only working certain muscle groups. Being in “softball shape” is completely different than “basketball, soccer, etc. shape.” As far as development as athletes go, playing multiple sports helps you develop more muscle groups and reduces your risk of injury!
 
2) Other sports actually help your softball skills rather than hurt them! Every single one of my pitchers who played basketball this year added 3-4mph after their basketball season. They were taking a weekly lesson and practicing at home here or there but were really taking time away from pitching and mechanics to focus on basketball!
 
3) If your first love is softball (which is totally okay!) it helps you appreciate the game more. When we play year-round, we don’t miss it. When we step away for a bit and focus on another sport, we appreciate softball more and work that much harder once we get back at it!  
 
4) Young athletes who are extremely gifted at their main sport, need to learn how to not be the best on their team at something. We learn just as many lessons from being uncomfortable learning new skills, learning to be a good teammate on the bench sometimes, and learning how to play a role! These are all skills that are often not learned when you are in the top third of talent on a team!
 
5) When all things are equal skill wise between two softball players, almost any college coach you ask will say they’d choose the multi-sport athlete over the softball only athlete. Why? That college coach knows the previously stated benefits of being a multi-sport athlete. Possibly even more important - that college coach knows that the multi-sport athlete took a break from softball and will be more likely to make it through their college career without injury!