The old saying goes that it takes ten thousand hours of practice for one to reach true mastery of a specific sport or hobby, but does all of that time have to go directly into repetitions of the same sport and over and over? Or, can complementing one’s focus sport with other sports in different seasons actually benefit the athlete more than playing the same game for the entire year?

Well, the data and research is quite conclusive. Playing more than one sport indicates success in the focus sport far more than staying in the realm of one sport for an athlete’s entire career. For example 88.9 percent of the draft picks in the 2022 NFL Draft played two or more sports in high school. The effort to stay active in an athletic way allowed these athletes to continue focusing on movements that occur in their focus sports, even if those movements were performed on the court instead of the field.

Not only does playing multiple sports predict professional success, but it also has been shown to limit injuries to athletes as well. The ability to perform different actions across the field, court, and diamond, for example has shown to negate major injury risk significantly as athletes’ bodies are more readily prepared to handle abnormal movements in their focus sport.

The results are clear, concise, and conclusive. Every athlete should at least consider playing multiple sports if they want to improve their ability in their main sport and limit their injury risk overall. The more diverse the activity of an athlete is, the better they will be on the field.