i agree that getting too specific (especially with youngsters) can be a huge block to future development. ingrained ideas and movement patterns can be hard to break….
i recently spent some time with keith morgan (he’s THE strength/weight lifting coach in the UK. basically if you’ve competed for great britain at almost anything you’ve probably been coached by this guy) and i asked him about “sports specificity”.
his answer was as simple as it gets but was absolute gold and something i’ll always keep in mind when writing programmes. he said:
“if an athlete can push, pull and squat, they can be good at anything”