Are we returning injured players to sport too soon?
Why do so many kids not only keep getting injured, but keep getting re-injured?! The biggest risk factor for injury isn’t over-training or lack of fitness, poor coaching or poor preparation. It isn’t even reckless play. The biggest predictor of injury by far, is previous injury. Kids who’ve been injured before and are attempting to return […]
5 Potential Danger Zones in the Young Athlete
Kids need a challenge but they also need special handling. Most people think, why? My kids are flexible, resilient, and young. They bounce back from anything thrown at them. Let’s throw it all at them! They can handle it. Not so fast. Why? Because they’re growing, and growing presents special challenges and unique demands. They’re not mini-adults […]
Play, the Great Leveler
Remember the carefree days of unencumbered play? When we gathered a group of friends, boys and girls, older and younger, and set out for the open field, or the hillside, or the climbing tree? There was not one right way to run or jump or roll or climb. We each just did it in our […]
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. […]
Taking Action Against Concussions: 8 Things You Can Do with Your Team Right Now
Concussions are a terribly important issue in sports today. You’ll get no argument from me. I came into the conversation early digging up the facts and shaking out the recommendations. Read my investigations here: Concussions: Not Just a Bump on the Head Concussions: What Parents, Coaches and Players Can Do The conclusions: We need to […]
The Key to Successful ACL Injury Prevention
Looking at the numbers of ACL tears and “revisions” – that’s a nice way to say re-tears – it is very clear this an injury we want to prevent. At all costs. The question is, can we? Sportsmetrics (Hewett in Ohio) and the PEP program (Santa Monica, CA) say YES. These groups have done solid […]
Concussion Conundrum: Referees’ Role In Preventing Head Injuries
Everyone agrees: We don’t want our young players suffering concussions. The difficulty comes in figuring out how to minimize them. There is a lot to this conversation; I only just scratched the surface in a two-part article. In the first, we looked at the nature of the injury and in the second, how to return […]
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 […]
