How Not to Raise an Injury Prone Athlete Who’s a Ticking Time Bomb
ESPN published a fairly damning article about sports specialization two days ago. The article is titled ‘These kids are ticking time bombs’: The threat of youth basketball.
In summary, the premise of the article is as follows:
Those who were highly specialized in one sport (at the exclusion of other sports) and played it year-round were at a significantly higher risk for serious overuse injuries, such as bone and cartilage injuries and ligament injuries. How much higher of a risk? About 125%.
Marinate on that shocking number for a bit…125%…WOW!!!
As the headline of the article suggest, young athletes who specialize in one sport are literally ticking time bombs with respect to injuries. So there is only one question a parent needs to answer. What should you do differently to defuse this bomb?
According to the ESPN article, experts had these suggestions for young athletes…
8 Changes Parents Must Make To Not Raise an Injury Prone Athlete Who’s a Ticking Time Bomb
- Delay specialization for young athletes until they’re 14 or older.
- Ensure rest from sports at least one day a week.
- At the end of a season, take two to three weeks off to give their bodies a rest and let them recover.
- After rest and recovery breaks, slowly ease back into training with lite jogging, biking and strength training.
- Participate in a variety of non-contact sports during the summer like tennis, golf, swimming and volleyball.
- Spend more time on building skills and less time competing
- Prioritize developing basic movements such as lateral movements, changing direction, squats, lunges and balancing on one leg.
- Break up the monotony of year round seasons with periods of cross-training sprinkled throughout the year (i.e. boxing, swimming, hiking, and biking)