{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,18]],"date-time":"2026-03-18T23:33:28Z","timestamp":1773876808285,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,10]],"date-time":"2023-01-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1673308800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Sports Act. Living"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The present study examined the influence of the specialization onset on the magnitude and patterns of changes in basketball-specific physical fitness within a competitive season and developmental fitness trends between 11 and 17 years in young basketball players. Repeated measures of 181 young basketball players (female, <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200940; male, <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009141) were examined. Anthropometry, age, estimated maturity status, and basketball-specific physical fitness (assessed with the countermovement jump, line drill, and yo-yo intermittent recovery level-1 and fitness score) were considered. Players were grouped by the onset of specialization as related to biological maturation milestones (pre-puberty, mid-puberty, and late-puberty specialization). The within-season and developmental changes in physical fitness were fitted using multilevel modeling in a fully Bayesian framework. The fitness outcomes were similar between-player and within-player changes when grouped by specialization across a season. Fitness improvements across a season were apparent for female players, while male players maintained their performance levels. There was no variation in the patterns of physical fitness development between 11 and 17 years associated with the onset of specialization. Conditional on our data and models, the assumption that early sport specialization provides a physical fitness advantage for future athletic success does not hold.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fspor.2022.1042494","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,10]],"date-time":"2023-01-10T21:41:02Z","timestamp":1673386862000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Does early specialization provide an advantage in physical fitness development in youth basketball?"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"4","author":[{"given":"Andr\u00e9 A L","family":"Soares","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ahlan B","family":"Lima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Caio G","family":"Miguel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Luciano G","family":"Galv\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Thiago J","family":"Leonardi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Roberto R","family":"Paes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Carlos E","family":"Gon\u00e7alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Humberto M","family":"Carvalho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1080\/07303084.2010.10598522","article-title":"Practice makes perfect and other curricular myths in the sport specialization debate","volume":"81","author":"Brylinsky","year":"2010","journal-title":"J Phys Educ Recreation Dance"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"363","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.100.3.363","article-title":"The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance","volume":"100","author":"Ericsson","year":"1993","journal-title":"Psychol Rev"},{"key":"B3","first-page":"295","article-title":"The development of skill in sport","volume-title":"Skill acquisition in sport: Research, theory and practice","author":"C\u00f4t\u00e9","year":"2012"},{"key":"B4","first-page":"250","volume-title":"Development of the youth athlete","author":"Armstrong","year":"2019"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1080\/1750984X.2014.896024","article-title":"20 Years later: deliberate practice and the development of expertise in sport","volume":"7","author":"Baker","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int Rev Sport Exerc Psychol"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1080\/07303084.2010.10598524","article-title":"Impact of early sport specialization","volume":"81","author":"Kaleth","year":"2010","journal-title":"J Phys Educ Recreation Dance"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"127","DOI":"10.1177\/19417381211056089","article-title":"Systematic review of health organization guidelines following the AMSSM 2019 youth early sport specialization summit","volume":"14","author":"Herman","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sports Health"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/00336297.2019.1580205","article-title":"The costs and benefits of early sport specialization: a critical review of literature","volume":"72","author":"Waldron","year":"2020","journal-title":"Quest"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"596229","DOI":"10.3389\/fspor.2020.596229","article-title":"What defines early specialization: a systematic review of literature","volume":"2","author":"Mosher","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Sports Active Living"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2094","DOI":"10.1080\/02640414.2019.1621476","article-title":"Youth sport specialization: a multidisciplinary scoping systematic review","volume":"37","author":"DiSanti","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Sports Sci"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1177\/19417381211049773","article-title":"Revisiting early sport specialization: what's The problem?","volume":"14","author":"Mosher","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sports Health"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"344","DOI":"10.1080\/00913847.2017.1313077","article-title":"Specialization patterns across various youth sports and relationship to injury risk","volume":"45","author":"Pasulka","year":"2017","journal-title":"Phys Sportsmed"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1080\/13598130902860507","article-title":"What do we know about early sport specialization?","volume":"20","author":"Baker","year":"2009","journal-title":"Not Much! 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