Hello Everyone. Today’s article is a guest post from James Howe.
—–
In today’s age professional athletes can make millions of dollars a year for kicking a ball around, shooting a basketball or hitting a golf ball. Consequently, children are being streamlined and groomed at a young age to emulate the skills of the professionals. Kids are being encouraged to only play sports that they show promise in the hopes of further developing and enhancing their skills with the goal of “making it big.” The downside of this is that kids are missing out on the benefits of broadening their horizons and playing more than one sport. Below are some benefits of playing multiple sports.
Great Memories
One of the best things of playing multiple sports is the life lessons that athletes take from it. Belonging to different sports organizations will only make it easier to meet new friends and create lasting memories. One benefit of playing multiple sports is always being able to get new sports clothing annually. It might not seem like much but it’s being able to identify with past teams that bring people together and make it easier to connect. Meeting and socializing with new teammates will help youth develop social and personal skills which will only help them later in life.
Ability Transferred To Other Sports
One trait in common with various sports is that they share the basic core skill. Decision making, quick reflexes, agility and physical fitness are all values that correlate to different sports. Players who focus on one sport at an early age only significantly decrease their exposure to the basic skills mentioned above that are available to different sports. Additionally, many children don’t know what sport they like best at a young age and can be burnt out easily if they only play one sport continuously for a long period of time. For example playing tennis or basketball could improve their movement and footwork could be translated and used when playing football. Take Steve Nash for example, who is one of the best NBA players of all time. He was a star football player growing up and his skills learned have definitely translated over to the hard-court.
Injury Prevention
Playing multiple sports can help reduce the amount of injuries that can be picked up. Injuries such as repetitive strains and an imbalance in muscular development are easier to avoid if you focus on more than one sport. Playing one individual sport over a long period of time can and will lead to injuries on the targeted body parts involved. Additionally, sports that involve multiple skills contribute to better all-round physical conditioning. Athletes can better develop their strength, stamina, core stability power and speed if they branch out to various disciplines.
Summary
For those wanting to try new sports you don’t need to be young to do so. The beauty of sports is that they bring people together from all walks of life and leave lifelong impressions on the people who play them. Not only do they help you make friends but they help contribute to a healthy lifestyle which will keep you going for years to come.