Focusing on One Sport Damages Your Mental Health

I’ve played basketball for most of my life and loved the sport almost more than anything. The game has done many great things for me like getting me recognitions to schools, AAU teams, and scouts from over the country. Along with all these positives it’s brought to me, it has hurt me mentally too. When I have an off game sometimes it gets in my head and I wonder if I’m not good enough, or if I have a full week of games and practices I feel like I always have to go. Even when my body feels like it’s about to break down and turn into sand I have to keep pushing through it, because I feel like it’s just basketball I have because I don’t play another sport. At times I get really stressed out thinking I have to play 24/7, but in reality this one sport can’t be my whole personality. This is why it’s always better to play more sports than one and have multiple interests, because you’ll have other things to focus on if one isn’t going your way.

Opening up to other sports also helps with multitasking which is a great thing to have growing up in life. You can also find out that you might like one sport more than the one that you’re better or worse at, and this is good because it opens up new opportunities. According to the “Athletes for hope,” among professional athletes 35% suffer mental health crises that can manifest as eating disorders, stress, burnout, or anxiety or depression. Playing one sport for too long can really get to your head in a big way because it can bring many more negative effects than positive. According to “Scholarshipstats.com” if you really want to be a division-1 athlete, the chances of getting there is 7%. That means 1/13 people get to go play a varsity sport at their college. Less than 2% of high school athletes go onto play at NCAA Division-1 schools, that means 1 out of 57 people. This is why it’s not worth it to only play one sport and stress about it all the time because in the end, your chances of going far in the sport aren’t very high and you get much more benefit out of playing multiple sports.

Michael Phelps, one of the greatest swimmers in the world, started swimming at the age of seven. Phelps loved to swim and loved to win, but at the end of the day he didn’t want to only be known as a swimmer and that’s not all he wanted to do his whole life. In the article “Insider,” Phelps had two DUIs in 2014 and when he got his second one he thought about ending his life. Because of his swimming it took the time away from his family and it got him feeling really depressed which is why he was driving under influence. He said in his documentary “Yeah I won a s–t-ton of medals. I had a great career,” he said in the documentary. “So what? I thought of myself as just a swimmer. Not a human being.” Putting all your eggs into one basket doesn’t always lead to the best outcome, but if you try other things and different interest it can lead to a better outcome
Pro Quarterback Russel Wilson played both Football and Baseball at a really high level and said on Bleacherreport “You never want to kill the dream of playing two sports,” Wilson said. “I would honestly play two sports. What Wilson is trying to say is that there are always many opportunities with playing two sports instead of one, and with playing a second sport your mental health is likely to be better and you can always have a second chance.

Focusing on One Sport Damages Your Mental Health

I’ve played basketball for most of my life and loved the sport almost more than anything. The game has done many great things for me like getting me recognitions to schools, AAU teams, and scouts from over the country. Along with all these positives it’s brought to me, it has hurt me mentally too. When I have an off game sometimes it gets in my head and I wonder if I’m not good enough, or if I have a full week of games and practices I feel like I always have to go. Even when my body feels like it’s about to break down and turn into sand I have to keep pushing through it, because I feel like it’s just basketball I have because I don’t play another sport. At times I get really stressed out thinking I have to play 24/7, but in reality this one sport can’t be my whole personality. This is why it’s always better to play more sports than one and have multiple interests, because you’ll have other things to focus on if one isn’t going your way.

Opening up to other sports also helps with multitasking which is a great thing to have growing up in life. You can also find out that you might like one sport more than the one that you’re better or worse at, and this is good because it opens up new opportunities. According to the “Athletes for hope,” among professional athletes 35% suffer mental health crises that can manifest as eating disorders, stress, burnout, or anxiety or depression. Playing one sport for too long can really get to your head in a big way because it can bring many more negative effects than positive. According to “Scholarshipstats.com” if you really want to be a division-1 athlete, the chances of getting there is 7%. That means 1/13 people get to go play a varsity sport at their college. Less than 2% of high school athletes go onto play at NCAA Division-1 schools, that means 1 out of 57 people. This is why it’s not worth it to only play one sport and stress about it all the time because in the end, your chances of going far in the sport aren’t very high and you get much more benefit out of playing multiple sports.

Michael Phelps, one of the greatest swimmers in the world, started swimming at the age of seven. Phelps loved to swim and loved to win, but at the end of the day he didn’t want to only be known as a swimmer and that’s not all he wanted to do his whole life. In the article “Insider,” Phelps had two DUIs in 2014 and when he got his second one he thought about ending his life. Because of his swimming it took the time away from his family and it got him feeling really depressed which is why he was driving under influence. He said in his documentary “Yeah I won a s–t-ton of medals. I had a great career,” he said in the documentary. “So what? I thought of myself as just a swimmer. Not a human being.” Putting all your eggs into one basket doesn’t always lead to the best outcome, but if you try other things and different interest it can lead to a better outcome
Pro Quarterback Russel Wilson played both Football and Baseball at a really high level and said on Bleacherreport “You never want to kill the dream of playing two sports,” Wilson said. “I would honestly play two sports. What Wilson is trying to say is that there are always many opportunities with playing two sports instead of one, and with playing a second sport your mental health is likely to be better and you can always have a second chance.

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