Youth Sports and OverTraining Today

Youth Sports

and Over Training Today

WRITTEN BY JOHN-HENRY ANDERSON, APRS PHYSICAL THERAPY

As spring arrives in Montana, we see the transition into a new (or the next) season of youth sports. With the many options of school sports, private club organizations, one-on-one lessons, personal training, etc., our youth athletes are increasingly provided with opportunities to hone their sports skills, jump higher, hit harder or run faster.

Opportunities are vastly more abundant every year and with media/social media coverage on everyone’s mobile devices, we are constantly being bombarded by the latest scores and greatest play of the day. We all share, tweet or like the latest multi-million-dollar contract or YouTube highlight reel. It is not surprising that our youth athletes (and parents) feel that the more they practice, the more likely they will become the next Mikaela Shiffrin or Patrick Mahomes.

Every year kids are starting competitive sports at an earlier age. Overuse injuries can be seen at early ages as well, most commonly in the 14-18-year-old age group. Every child develops at a different rate than their peers and even their siblings. Come watch a fourth- and fifthgrade YMCA basketball game or stop in at Lone Mountain Gymnastics, and you can see the tremendous difference in size and athletic ability in kids that are 12-18 months apart, yet still competing in the same arena. The demands placed on these little bodies can lead to overuse injuries, which if not recognized early could greatly affect their season and/or their general physical health. What is meant by an overuse injury? Overuse injuries are most commonly the result of repetitive micro-traumas that occur over time to the bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles. Common examples are tennis elbow, jumper’s knee, shin splints and stress fractures. However we also see acute injuries (a single, traumatic event) that are the result of overuse microtraumas that occur due to compensations or weakness brought on by repetitive microtraumas (ACL tears and hamstring strains).

What can you (the parent) do when your child has an overuse injury?

The best post-injury treatment is the PRICE protocol.

Protect the injury

Rest the body

Apply Ice to the injured area

Use Compression

Elevation to keep the swelling manageable

For expert evaluation, you should see your pediatrician or someone trained to evaluate and treat sports injuries such as a sports or orthopedic-certified physical therapist. An evaluation will provide an overview that can help to determine the cause of the injury (weakness, tightness, asymmetries). How do we prevent overuse injuries?

Here are some recommendations to help parents/athletes prevent overuse injuries:

1. Do NOT specialize in one sport. College coaches, such as Urban Myer, have been very clear that when recruiting athletes, they prefer multi-sport athletes because they are more well-rounded and typically have fewer injuries in college.

2. Limit yearly sports participation to eight months per year (which is very difficult with sports such as gymnastics, soccer, basketball and volleyball that run year-round).

3. Limit sports participation to fewer hours/week than the child’s age.

Coaching these kids is also a major piece of the puzzle. Poor form, poor technique and not paying attention to training volume can be very detrimental to an athlete’s body. Every coach should be trained by their governing body to recognize overuse injuries and to accommodate athletes that are showing signs of poor technique, fatigue, burn-out or over-training.

Load management has become a major topic, especially in the NBA, over the past couple of years. Managing your athlete’s training, rest, recovery and mental health is a daunting task. It is a battle that all athletes struggle with at some point in their careers. Most coaches cannot fully account for each and every of their athlete’s load management because often they are playing on multiple teams or multiple sports. This just emphasizes the importance of parental supervision to monitor load management in young athletes.

Other recommendations for overuse injury prevention are proper nutrition, hydration and getting plenty of sleep. Be sure to always assure your athlete’s gear fits and is in good working condition. Shoes, for example, can be a big problem when they are too big or too small or if they have been through too many seasons and are no longer providing the support or cushion that they once did.

Youth sports are supposed to be fun and teach our kids the importance of hard work, competition, team dynamics, goal setting and a healthy lifestyle among many other things. Keep up the great work, parents, and keep our young athletes healthy.

John-Henry Anderson, PT, DPT, SCS, CSCS is a Sports Physical Therapist and a Strength and Conditioning Specialist with APRS Physical Therapy. He also coaches youth sports year-round in Bozeman, MT.