Injury Prevention for Young Athletes
Children’s athletic injuries can often be prevented.
Here are a few guidelines to use year-around:
“Pre-habilitiation”
Instead of re-habilitation after a sports injury, practice “pre-habilitation.” This means that athletes should get ready for the season with the right sport-specific training. Prepare muscles that will be commonly used in your sport by strengthening and stretching 8-12 weeks before for the start of the season. A certified athletic trainer, physical therapist, strength and conditioning coach, or sports medicine physician can help you set up an appropriate program for the off-season. Pre-habilitation also should include re-habilitating any injuries from last season. Although an old injury may no longer hurt, there is a good chance that you may have some weakness or poor flexibility that will make you more likely to get another injury this season. So, if you suffered an ankle sprain and you haven’t done any strengthening or balance exercises since the injury, now is the time.
The 10% Rule
Following the 10% rule can prevent overuse injuries such as tendonitis and stress fractures. The rule suggests starting slow and increasing training by 10% per week. So, if you normally run 20 miles per week, you may increase to 22 miles the second week. Then, you may increase to 24.2 miles the third week. And so on….
Cross training
Although basketball players like nothing better than to play pickup ball in the summer and soccer players are willing to play indoor leagues all winter, sometimes our bodies needs rest. Year-round sport-specific training can put stress on a body. This means that even pitchers should take a break from pitching during the year. So, how do you stay in shape for the season? Cross-train. This means picking an activity that will keep you in good cardiovascular shape but does not exert the same demands as your usual sport. Excellent choices are swimming, deep-water running, and even biking. All are low-impact but keep you in tip-top shape. Also, it’s safe to pick impact activities such as running, basketball, or soccer -- just pick something that focuses on different muscles than your primary sport. Instead of dedicating a month to cross-training, you can mix it into your usual sports training routine once or twice a week.