There is a growing trend for parents and others to encourage young children to specialise in golf at a young age. This is at the expense of other sports and activities. The logic is that the earlier the child begins golf and the more time they spend training at an earlier age, the greater the likelihood that they will become an expert and earn millions as a professional. Even if this were true, it ignores the psycho-social, psychological and physical costs associated with this early specialisation. These costs can include missing out on the broad physical skills development gained by participating in multiple sports, risk of overuse injury, learning about co-operation, leadership, self-control, reliance on others and being relied on by others in a team setting. Possibly one of most worrying costs is the risk of burnout and of the participant leaving sport all together.

Researcher and expert in this field Jean Côté has described a model of development with four possible trajectories.

Recreational participation in sport through sampling (multiple sports) and deliberate play.
Young athletes participate in a variety of sports in the sampling years (6-12 years old). The recreational years (13-15 years) are seen as an extension of the sampling years with the primary goals of enjoyment and health. This type of participation will also provide the opportunity of developing multiple motor skills sets.

Elite performance through sampling and deliberate play.
The sampling years are the same as for recreational participants. From the ages of 13-15(specialising years), the athletes focus on fewer sports and by 16+ (investment years) the focus shifts to a single sport. During these years the athletes also practice rather than mainly being involved in deliberate play. Having participated in multiple sports during the sampling years, the athletes will have gained the positive physical and psycho-social benefits of having done so.

Elite performance through early specialisation and deliberate practice.
These performers usually skip the sampling years and don’t gain the enjoyment and other benefits associated with multi-sport participation. Other effects of early specialisation include higher attrition rates and a negative impact on athletes’ health. Having said that, there is plenty of support suggesting this trajectory is the most effective in developing elite performance.

Permanent dropout.
This is when an athlete chooses to disengage from sport. They lose the health, psychological and psycho-social benefits associated with continued participation. There is some evidence to suggest that engaging in training activities at a young age can contribute to withdrawal from long-term involvement with sport.

From the trajectories described above, the elite performance through sampling and deliberate play provides the most benefits for the athlete in terms of long-term involvement, performing at an elite level and enjoyment in the sport. It is, however not for the majority, only for those who wish to pursue their sport at an elite level. At the elite level the requirements to reach your goals are far greater than enjoying all the benefits of deliberate play (competition) at more of a recreational level. The challenge of improving performance remains, however it is easier to keep the sport in perspective as a healthy part of a balanced life.