My passion is preventing sports injuries. I see too many young athletes with injuries that should never have occurred in the first place. Other than direct trauma, most of these injuries are due to two things: too much time playing the sport and a lack of general physical preparation.
When I played baseball in high school we played a 16 game season. That's it! No extra league games, extra practices, and personal baseball coach. Baseball was played in the springtime. Now, all sports are year round. WHEN IS THE OFFSEASON? Professional athletes, who are genetically gifted and physically prepared, have an off season, why don't kids have one?
Many experts claim the problem is that kids play the same sport and don't get variety. Well, going from soccer, to basketball, to lacrosse won't be much help if there is no break in the action. Rest and recovery are essential to a young body.
PARENTS - listen up! If you have a teenager (or younger) with joint and/or muscle pain - this is not normal.
My next post will discuss physical preparation for the young athlete.
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