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Over the last few decades, there has been a trend towards children specialising in sport at an earlier age, fuelled by the belief that this is required to achieve elite levels. Concerns about this approach include an increased risk of overuse injury, and dropout due to physical or psychological burnout, says sports physician Steve Targett
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1. Australian Sports Medicine Collaborative. Sport Specialisation in Young Athletes – Position Statement. 2022. tinyurl.com/ASMCstatement
2. Kliethermes SA, Marshall SW, LaBella CR, et al. Defining a research agenda for youth sport specialisation in the USA: the AMSSM Youth Early Sport Specialization Summit. Br J Sports Med. 2021;55(3):135–43.
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