Talent development in childhood: Early specialization or sampling? From an either… or… question to a 2 × 2 × 3 question cuboid

Abstract

A central, yet still unresolved, question about optimal youth talent development asks whether children should specialize and train systematically in one sport— early specialization—or gain different playful experiences in several sports— early sampling. Based upon theoretical considerations, we problematize dichotomous discussions and offer a complex 2 × 2 × 3 question cuboid differentiating between two goals (performance in adulthood and positive youth development), two continuum-based dimensions (task-specificity and exercise mode), and three perspectives (nomothetic, group-specific, and idiographic). Accordingly, resolving the question about optimal youth talent development involves assembling answers derived from 12 different questions. Through our theoretical contribution, we identified several nomothetic principles offering stakeholders initial recommendations and orientations to estimate the appropriate need for high task-specificity and exercise mode in relation to each goal. We suggest adapting these recommendations according to group-specific characteristics, such as sport and age, and idiographic fine-tuning according to children's biopsychosocial characteristics.