Specializing In One Position At An Early Age Harms Youth Development
David Griffin (@dg_riff) was the General Manager of The Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014 to 2017. As general manager, Griffin repositioned the organization for continued and sustainable success via the draft and trades, while managing the salary cap to sign key free agents in the summer of 2014, namely LeBron James. David Griffin helped the Cavs reach three straight NBA Finals in his three year tenure with the Cavs.
In this video, Griffin explains that as kids learn sports, they need to learn to play every position so that they are more well-rounded and can provide value wherever it is asked of them as their career in sports develops. Griffin says that the longer you can delay specializing in only one position the better, as kids will learn what it takes to succeed at all aspects of their sport rather than just one. By understanding each position and not just one, they will become a better overall player. If kids are put in a position to learn every position, they'll be way ahead of the curve.