Multi-Sport Athletes and Professional Cross-Training

What’s better: to specialize in one sport or be a multi-sport athlete? In certain circles, this question is as controversial as opening up Thanksgiving dinner with, “who’d you vote for?”

My guess is the majority of collegiate coaches are in favor of multi-sport athletes. Each sport requires the body to use different muscles. In youth and adolescents, sport diversity can assist in better movement quality and body awareness.

Equal, if not more important, are the life and mental skills learned. For example, shooting a free-throw in front of a crowded gymnasium provides a pressure packed experience. This situation provides a feedback loop for the aspiring baseball player in managing high-leverage situations in the future.

While playing multiple sports is great, it’s not the only pathway. For various reasons, early specialization can benefit certain kids. For example, if one attends a large and talent-rich high school, it’s hard to make multiple teams. For some, their best shot is to specialize in one sport. 

The big miss, however, is when specialization fails to include cross-training. Cross-training can be defined as: “the action or practice of engaging in two or more sports or types of exercise in order to improve fitness or performance in one’s main sport.”

If an athlete decides to focus on one sport, their training should still include other techniques to enhance their skill set. Here’s an example from our baseball program. One of our players asked how he should approach enhancing his infield skills this off-season. The safe answer would have been prescribing infield specific drills; including lots of ground ball repetitions. Our conversation, however, concluded with us suggesting that playing racquetball and pick-up hoops would be his best pathway to improvement. .

Professional Cross-Training: I have a confession. Last year, I found myself becoming stagnant in baseball. For the first 15+ years of my career I could pour myself into learning sport specific technique and strategy. For the first time I felt a dangerous void in curiosity. The enthusiasm for learning just wasn’t at the level necessary for high performance. 
Luckily, I was introduced to a group of coaches and leaders outside of baseball. Over the past year, my growth has come from professional cross-training. I’ve had amazing conversations with coaches and coach developers from the world of cricket, rugby, gymnastics, soccer, and even Formula 1 racing. 
I’ve seen how the fundamentals of leadership, culture building and learning environments are applicable across various sports. The thrilling part for me is taking the lessons and applying them to our baseball program. 

How You Can Utilize Cross-Training: Have you ever felt stagnant in your growth? As we advance in our careers we tend to specialize. We add value in a particular area, lean into that area, and in a lot of cases become an expert. Even when seeking professional development opportunities we tend to engage with individuals from our same industry.
Could you benefit from learning opportunities in other sectors? If you are a lawyer could you spend time discussing customer service with a friend in sales? If you are a doctor, could you ask a football coach advice on their process for performance evaluation? If you are in business, could you ask an educator how to best shape a learning environment for an upcoming meeting? 

I believe you’ll find returning to a beginners mindset, a white-belt mentality, will reignite your curiosity. This shift in mindset will allow you to approach your area of expertise with new energy and passion. Opportunities will appear that have been missing. 

Questions for reflection:

1.    Where can you look outside of your industry for growth?

2.    How can you encourage cross-training amongst your employees?