Why Chasing Numbers Is the Wrong Goal for Youth Athletes

As we sat at the dinner table a few weeks ago, I asked my 13-year-old son, Aiden, how his first practice with his future high school baseball team went that day. Aiden was quick to share both how much fun and how challenging it was to play with and against teenagers who were, in some cases, three to four years older than him.

I followed that question with another: "What did your coaches want you to focus on during practice?" Aiden replied with two answers: pitching speed and batting exit velocity. For those of you not familiar with baseball, those are measures of how hard a pitcher is throwing the ball and how fast the ball comes off the bat when a hitter swings.

In one way, I was surprised by Aiden's answer, but in another way, I wasn't. These metrics are all over high school, college, and professional baseball. But the narrow focus on these numbers ignores a larger story: youth athletes are quitting sports at a greater rate now than ever before ¹, and the injury rate for high school baseball players is growing faster than for their counterparts in college and the professional ranks.

In the clinic, one of the foundational truths I share with my high school athletes and their parents is that every day a teenager wakes up, they're a new person physically, neurologically, and emotionally. If we assume the opposite — that teenagers are just miniature adults — we will misapply the strength and conditioning practices that create a solid foundation for young athletes to continually perform better as they grow. I've often seen parents or trainers push teens into college or professional strength training programs that are too complex for where they are in their development.

Today, parents are being sold a false bill of goods by the club sports system. The pitch from the clubs is straightforward: year-round, single-sport specialization and competition are the most reliable way to produce a college or professional athlete. Club coaches will directly tell you that if you don't sign up your son for a competitive baseball team that plays and practices year-round, he'll forever be behind and never have a chance to play competitive baseball in high school or beyond.

This flies in the face of youth athletic development research and, as mentioned above, a growing base of evidence showing that exclusively focusing on one sport in grade school or high school is the fast track to athlete burnout and overuse injuries.

Just think about your high school days: how many of your classmates made it to the pros, or even Division I college athletics? My guess is probably fewer than five. 

And how many classmates had an ACL repair or Tommy John surgery in high school? For most of you, I'd guess the answer was none or one. That world doesn't exist anymore.

We often see high school clients in our clinic who've gotten stuck in the endless cycle of games, tournaments, and practices, twelve months a year. Among these kids, there is a noticeable lack of general coordination and strength. Most have never been taught to squat properly and lack the strength to perform a single push-up or pull-up with proper form.

Aiden is a direct product of a different approach. I was able to drop him into a competitive high school sport without forcing him to specialize year-round. 

How? 

By focusing on a broader picture, teaching him the basic movements that every athlete and human should be able to perform. 

Targeted warm-ups to make him more ready to perform, a simple approach to mastering the fundamental movement patterns of the upper body and lower body, a priority on competency before adding intensity or volume, and a family-wide focus on lifestyle habits-hydration, nutrition, and sleep quality - that support his body's natural ability to recover, grow, and continue to develop physically and neurologically.

What's most interesting? Aiden was able to hold his own against a group of specialized high school baseball players despite being an athletic generalist who isn't even in high school yet — he's an 8th grader.

Our goal for his continued development in baseball hasn't changed. It's not velocity or bat speed. It's a broader set of goals that will make him both a better overall athlete and a better baseball player than his peers when his body is done growing.

Want to know more about how we're doing this with Aiden and all of our adolescent clients? 

Stay tuned for Part 2, where our Director of Athletic Training, Dennis Dolan, will break down how he's used the fundamental principles of strength and conditioning to help high school athletes perform at higher levels without the grind of year-round tournaments and specialization.

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¹ Edison, B. R., Valenzuela-Moss, J., Matzkin, E. G., & Fabricant, P. D. (2024). Changes in sports participation, specialization, and burnout from 7th to 12th grade: Final results from a 6-year longitudinal study. Sports Health, 16(2), 177–183. https://doi.org/10.1177/19417381231224792