Five Simple Ways to Beat Overuse Injuries
Keep your players fresh and injury free by adding variety and changing things up. Here are some easy-to-implement ideas that will pay off big in healthy play and keeping injuries away.
Four Signs that Kids Sports Are Actually Hurting Them
When I was growing up playing sports, nobody ever got hurt, at least not seriously. I don’t remember a single teammate ever complaining of knee pain, shin pain, heel pain or hip pain. Today nearly all young athletes eventually experience at least one of these maladies. What has changed since the “good ole days?” Plenty. […]
Pre-season Tournaments Beat Kids Up: Rest Days Allow them to Return to Full Strength
Are your players full of energy and enthusiasm at the beginning of practice? Or, are they pooped from school starting or the tournament weekend they just toughed it through? We all like those high energy days because we know that’s when we can really challenge them toward peak performance, but we are leery of pushing past […]
Three Easy Ways to Measure Training Demand on Your Athletes
Do you have days when it all clicks? Your players take every challenge and respond with energy, skill and enthusiasm. Then those other days when it all falls apart? Your players might as well have taken a nap or hit the books early for all the good it is doing. We’d all like to have […]
School Soccer + Club Soccer May Spell Too Much: Beat Overtraining Injuries with the 6+ Program
When my daughter’s team hit the fields for the spring season tune up, I was happily surprised by the healthy depth of their roster. I keep track of this stuff, as a mom and a sports medicine professional keeping a close eye on the injury tally. “Just wait,” her coach cautioned, “spring is overlap season. […]
Are Sports Too Much for Your Kid? Dismantling the Dagwood Sandwich, An Equation for Healthy Youth Sport
Everybody’s talking about injuries. Coaches, doctors, league administrators, and parents are worried about the increase in injuries from SO much soccer! Kids are stuffed with teams and tryouts, tournaments and competitions. What used to be a tasty part of a balanced diet, now sits on their plate like a dagwood sandwich, daring them to eat […]
Is it “just” Growing Pains?
I was stretching with my U13 soccer team after a scrimmage. Through a chorus of moans and evident wincing one player told me, “Coach, no one in my class can touch their toes.” Her teammates nodded in agreement. Yep, tight muscles in longer limbs are natural when they’re growing. But does that mean pain is […]
What Causes Overtraining?
Overtraining injury may be the result of one or several of the following: Activities which require repetitive motion. Increasing intensity or duration of training too quickly. Lack of fitness, especially core strength. Failure to fully rehab after an injury, come back too soon, not allow enough rest for recovery. Poorly functioning equipment. Shoes are generally […]
Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining
Increase in Resting Heart rate (taken before getting out of bed in the morning for at least 10 consecutive days). Persistent muscle soreness. Fatigue. Reluctance to train. Body is tired and heavy. Pattern of skipping practices or games. Sleeplessness: trouble falling asleep, wake during the night. Decrease in appetite. Weight loss. Irregular menstruation in females. […]
Play it safe, but play
Spring is coming! Our kids are streaming back to the playing fields. No one is happier about this than I am. Youth sports have so much to offer our kids – physically, emotionally, socially – as long as they’re not side-lined by injury. Did you know?* Sports injuries to youth (0-14 years) in 1997 cost […]