Early Sport Specialization | Dr. Tommy John

Tommy is the founder of Dr. Tommy John Performance and Healing Center in San Diego, California. With Master Degrees in Health and Exercise Science from Furman University, Dr. Tommy John brings over 17 years of health experience to the table. At the completion of his studies he played professional baseball for three years with teams such as the Schaumburg Flyers, the Tyler Roughnecks and the LA Dodgers. After his career was abruptly ended from a rare infection in his throwing shoulder, he developed his own baseball performance company providing over 11,000 baseball training sessions for baseball enthusiasts from ages six to thirty. Additionally, he expanded his practice of personal training, sports performance training and rehabilitation for all types of soft tissue injuries.

Table of Contents

0:00 - Intro

2:04 - Growing up

7:00 - Kid-driven improvement

10:00 - Early sport specialization and intrinsic motivation

11:40 - Injuries in youth sports

15:20 - Disinterest and burnout

23:27 - The importance of free play

27:00 - “Elite” youth sport athletes

32:55 - Top 3 characteristics of great coaches

38:30 - Winning at all costs?

44:45 - Parent expectations

46:00 - Reversing the trends in youth sports

49:39 - Tommy’s patients

52:00 - Book recommendations