Background:Sport sampling is recommended to promote fundamental movement skill acquisition and physical activity. In contrast, sport specialization is associated with musculoskeletal injury risk, burnout, and attrition from sport. There is limited evidence to support the influence of sport sampling on neuromuscular control, which is associated with injury risk, in youth athletes.Hypothesis:Athletes who participated in only 1 sport during the previous year would demonstrate higher Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) scores than their counterparts.Study Design:Cross-sectional study.Level of Evidence:Level 3.Methods:A total of 355 youth athletes (age range, 8-14 years) completed a test session with a jump-landing task, which was evaluated using the LESS. Participants were categorized as single sport (SS) or multisport (MS) based on their self-reported sport participation in the past year. Their duration of sport sampling (low, moderate, high) was determined based on their sport participation history. Participants were dichotomized into good (LESS <5) or poor (LESS ≥5) categories. Chi-square tests were performed to evaluate for the association between control category (good, poor) and participation (MS, SS), as well as sport-sampling duration (low, moderate, high).Results:The MS group was 2.5 times (95% CI, 1.9-3.1) as likely to be categorized as having good control compared with the SS group (χ2(355) = 10.10, P < 0.01). Recreational participants in the “high” sport-sampling duration group were 5.8 times (95% CI, 3.1-8.5) and 5.4 times (95% CI, 4.0-6.8) as likely to be categorized as having good control compared with the moderate and low groups (χ2(216) = 11.20, P < 0.01).Conclusion:Sport sampling at a young age is associated with improved neuromuscular control, which may reduce injury risk in youth athletes.Clinical Relevance:Youth athletes should be encouraged to try participating in multiple sports to enhance their neuromuscular control and promote long-term physical activity.

Context Gymnastics trains fundamental movement skills but has high rates of early sport specialization. Early specialization is associated with increased injury risk. Gymnasts devote time to developing technical skill, but whether specialization status influences performance is unknown. Objective To describe the participation and specialization characteristics of youth club gymnastics participants and determine whether the level of specialization is associated with fitness and functional task performance. Design Retrospective cross-sectional study. Setting A single gymnastics facility. Patients or Other Participants Data on youth gymnasts (n = 131; 84 females, 47 males; age = 10.9 ± 2.9 years, height = 142.14 ± 16.23 cm, mass = 38.15 ± 12.93 kg) were reviewed. Main Outcome Measure(s) Specialization was assessed using a 3-tiered classification. Fitness measurements consisted of the Gymnastics Functional Measurement Tool, Men's Gymnastics Functional Measurement Tool, and core strength. Functional tasks evaluated hop performance, dynamic balance, and jump-landing technique. Separate analyses of covariance, covaried by age, hours of training, and years of gymnastics participation, were used to identify differences in fitness and functional performance among specialization groups. Pearson product correlations were calculated to evaluate the relationships between training hours per week and years in gymnastics with fitness and functional performance. Results Most gymnasts were classified as moderately (50.4%, n = 66) or highly (35.1%, n = 46) specialized. Only 14.5% (n = 19) were classified as having a low level of specialization. Weak to moderate correlations were present between years in gymnastics and most fitness tasks. Moderate to strong correlations were noted between training hours per week and most fitness tasks. Low-specialization gymnasts scored lower on right lower extremity Y-balance (P = .004), upper left extremity Y-balance (P = .033), and right hop performance (P = .039) tests. Conclusions Gymnasts reported high proportions of moderate to high specialization, and many exceeded guidelines for hours participating in gymnastics per week. We did not observe clinically meaningful group differences among specialization status and fitness or functional movement tasks, indicating no clear benefit of gymnastics training to the exclusion of other sports for increased performance.

Context: Injury-prevention programs (IPPs) performed as season-long warm-ups improve injury rates, performance outcomes, and jump-landing technique. However, concerns regarding program adoption exist. Identifying the acute benefits of using an IPP compared with other warm-ups may encourage IPP adoption.Objective Intervention(s): Participants were stratified by age, sex, and sport and then were randomized into 1 protocol: IPP, SWU, or DWU. The IPP consisted of dynamic flexibility, strengthening, plyometric, and balance exercises and emphasized proper technique. The SWU consisted of jogging and lower extremity static stretching. The DWU consisted of dynamic lower extremity flexibility exercises. Participants were assessed for landing technique and performance measures immediately before (PRE) and after (POST) completing their warm-ups.Main Outcome Measure(s): One rater graded each jumplanding trial using the Landing Error Scoring System. Participants performed a vertical jump, long jump, shuttle run, and jump-landing task in randomized order. The averages of all jump-landing trials and performance variables were used to calculate 1 composite score for each variable at PRE and POST. Change scores were calculated (POST À PRE) for all measures. Separate 1-way (group) analyses of variance were conducted for each dependent variable (a , .05).Results: No differences were observed among groups for any performance measures (P . .05). The Landing Error Scoring System scores improved after the IPP (change ¼À0.40 6 1.24 errors) compared with the DWU (0.27 6 1.09 errors) and SWU (0.43 6 1.35 errors; P ¼ .04).Conclusions: An IPP did not impair sport performance and may have reduced injury risk, which supports the use of these programs before sport activity.Key Words: injury risk, knee, anterior cruciate ligament Key PointsThe injury-prevention program (IPP) demonstrated acute improvements in jump-landing technique. The IPP did not negatively affect performance variables, indicating that IPPs are as effective as a dynamic warm-up for preparing athletes for competition. The youth athletes could take generalized cues and immediately translate them into a sport-specific movement task, theoretically reducing the risk of lower extremity injury.