Early specialisation in sports poses risk of burnout among young athletes

Young talent are burning brightly, but then burning out. It's time to look at pressures from society, parents and schools.

- Kenneth Goh

As a young swimmer, "Jack" showed great promise. At just 12 years old, he was the top-ranked swimmer in multiple events in his age group. Many believed he could be the next Joseph Schooling. However, at 14, after years of intensive training and competition, he experienced burnout and retired from competitive swimming.

Jack's experience of burnout is not unique. I know this from my experience as a former competitive swimmer representing Singapore for more than two decades, and from hearing similar cases from coaches at Singapore Aquatics, where I serve as secretary general. This observation is consistent with several scientific studies that suggest specialising too early in most sports increases the risk of burnout.

The development of high-performance athletes shares similarities with developing entrepreneurial talent - an area of my research and teaching. Both domains are highly selective in achieving success. For example, in the United States, only 2.8 per cent of high school athletes go on to compete at the top-tier collegiate level, according to a report by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2020. In popular sports such as men's basketball, only 0.28 per cent of NCAA athletes become professional. Compare this with the start-up world, where a 2015 study found that just 0.3 per cent of venture-backed start-ups globally were valued at over US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion).

Countries with small populations, like Singapore, cannot improve their chances of winning in a highly selective game by simply increasing the talent pool size - we have to improve the odds by reducing the attrition rate among those already part of the talent pool.

The issue of early burnout is thus not just a concern for aquatic sports, but has broader implications on talent development. Importantly, it could also point to a trend of deteriorating mental wellness among young people.