Athleticism First

I’ve said in multiple articles over the last couple years that the best developer of a weightlifter is general physical preparedness and overall athleticism. The best developers of those things are other sports outside of weightlifting. There are multiple, multiple international weightlifting programs that talk about their teams playing volleyball or basketball or other sports to help develop their weightlifters. I just got done speaking at a football meeting for our high school football team and that was my exact thesis. Athletes make the best football players. The best developer of a good high school football player and college level football player is for them to participate and play in multiple sports. Spending all their time in the weight room and then all of their time of the football field does not get them noticed by colleges nor does it help them in their performance on the field. The same truth carries over to the sport a weightlifting.
Unbalanced athletes with strength biases and weaknesses in different parts of their body make the lifts harder.
Young lifters ( aka anyone who has not been lifting for an extended period of time regardless of age) make sure you are doing a high percentage of your work in general physical preparedness. When I first started weightlifting I was playing football, wrestling, baseball, and a little bit of basketball. Those sports helped keep me well-rounded and in many ways helped prepare me for the rigors of weightlifting. It kept me from specializing at too early of an age.
The reason I presented this information to the football parents came from an article published from Ohio State recently. Urban Meyer showed in this article that the vast majority of his football players were recruited because they were multiple sport athletes. Their versatility and balance across all sports made them more appealing to college recruits. It also made them better athletes. If you’re interested check that article here.
Bottom line: don’t singly focus on one thing early in your career. This is especially true if you are young. Play multiple things. Be good at lots of different facets of your athleticism. The whole development of your body will turn out better for you in the long run at one specific thing.