Overuse Injuries and Year Round Training

[Spin it]

Well....as the video indicates it's professionalization of youth sports. This is a money driven thing that we have all fallen victim to, but the real victims are the children. In reality, no child is going to get that all illusive college scholarship at 8-14 years old, which are the prime growth years for 99 percent of most females. I see travel ball programs all over the country starting developmental programs for 8 years old, why?...because they need the money to pay for their existing infrastructures for their older participants. If a child takes off a few months during the year they are not going to fall behind I promise. Professional sport athletes take several months off, especially pitchers in order to give their bodies a break, and they are the best in the world. At the end of the day children will go where they are told when they are told, and it is incumbent upon parents to insure they do not get sucked into the money vacuum created by travel sports and over task the growing fragile bodies. As a final thought, remember to rest your body, if you don't, it will do it for you.....

 

[Rick M]

That's a rough video, I really felt for the girl who played soccer her whole life and then managed to play only four varsity games before giving it up for good.

This is nothing new, BTW. Sports Illustrated did a big story about torn ACL's in women college basketball players almost 25 years ago:

https://www.si.com/vault/1995/02/13...epidemic-of-torn-knee-ligaments-along-the-way

IMHO, getting rest is more important than just playing different sports. I would imagine that an athlete going from soccer-to basketball-to lacrosse-to whatever summer league appeals to them the most would be in more danger of an overuse injury than someone playing just softball but taking two months off a year. Especially when in comes to knee injuries, all of those sports involve a lot of running, starting, and stopping. The size of the ball makes no difference, it's the repetitive action that hurts.

Like grcsftbll, we've encouraged our daughter to play multiple sports, but she just loves softball. Nothing else has captured her fancy, and at 13 years old the days of signing her up for something without her buy-in are over. Right now, she's on an eight-week shutdown. In January, it'll be back to the grind.

 

[chinamigarden]

It’s a combination of things. The year after year grind and the length of workouts seems to be getting longer and more intense.

Parents need to take control back, the promise of a scholarship means nothing if your dd can’t raise her hand over her shoulder at age 30. Or can’t kneel down to play with her own child when she is 28.

Years ago, A friend of mine took her dd to a clinic put on by Jenny Ritter. A parent asked her how long her pitching practices were. She said she warmed up and then threw 50 pitches. That was it.

At that time I knew people who had their 10-12 year olds throwing 300 pitches in practice. And explained it as their dd loved to pitch.

Take control parents, so your dds can play ball with their kids when it’s their time.

 

[_MIA_]

https://www.si.com/vault/1995/02/13...epidemic-of-torn-knee-ligaments-along-the-way

Especially when in comes to knee injuries, all of those sports involve a lot of running, starting, and stopping. The size of the ball makes no difference, it's the repetitive action that hurts.

Repetitive injuries are certainly an issue, but I don't think that article attributed knee injuries (at least the ones they were talking about e.g. ligament tears) to repetition. Knee injuries occur when the ligament is put under an amount of force it cannot handle, either due to an external source (being hit..like how tore mine) or due to jumping/cutting type action. I supposed repetition could in theory weaken a ligament where it might be more susceptible to a tear but I don't think (I could have missed it) that article made that statement. Strength training probably has made the problem worse since doing so strengthens the muscles such that they can apply more force to ligaments but does almost nothing to the ligaments (and certainly nothing to the female anatomy which makes a tear more likely)

On the other hand, things like tendinitis, etc are definitely repetitive type injuries.

 

[Rick M]

Repetitive injuries are certainly an issue, but I don't think that article attributed knee injuries (at least the ones they were talking about e.g. ligament tears) to repetition.

Right, this was before there was so much concern about repetitive stress. It was more about how little understanding there is about female athletes and how high-pressure sports affect their bodies. Just pointing out that ACL injuries, in particular, have been an issue for female athletes for some time.

My own daughter, as a pitcher, has a right arm that is noticeably more muscular than her left. I'm sure the amount of force she applies to her tendons and ligaments every time she throws a pitch presents a certain amount of risk, whether it be from specialization or overuse.

 

[murphdog]

The first girl in that video is from the town next to mine. There’s a ton of club soccer teams are around here that are all or nothing. Many of DD’s friends played for them.
Although DD has always played softball she also played rec/travel soccer and rec basketball and then both soccer and softball in HS. Both her soccer and softball coaches in HS had pre season conditioning and weight training routines for the players, but not all programs offer this.

 

[riseball]

My daughter had physical therapy yesterday for about her 4th or 5th overuse/growth related injury. She's 13. Even as she plays softball 11 months out of the year, I agree that it's not healthy. We made her play basketball. We made her play soccer. She led the way to travel ball from rec. She put her foot down about other sports. She loves softball, & she's through trying other things. She's a teenager, so I guess we're through forcing her into new sports.

We use it to try to help her learn about accountability and self care (real self care). If she wants to play softball practically all year, she has to ice. She has to do exercises as prescribed. She has to eat decently. Etc etc. This happens with varying degrees of success, but growing up is a process. She's prone to this type of injury. It's a trade off that we've so far been willing to let her make.

Nothing wrong with only playing one sport. Needing to play multiple sports to stay healthy is ludicrous. Would be curious to hear what she does off the field to prepare herself for what happens on the field.

 

[Dandan111]

Go to enough doctors one of them is always ready to operate.
If something hurts stop doing it. (Never had a surgery so maybe I don't understand)
I'm sure surgery is needed sometimes but I don't buy into all of it.

 

[cnardone]

This article is more basketball focused but paints a scary picture (or I think so anyway).

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27125793/these-kids-ticking-bombs-threat-youth-basketball

 

[BT3100]

DD is a pitcher.
Part of that is sprints 4 to 5 days per week along with distance running
She goes to the gym 2-3 times per week and lifts heavy.
That's the definition of a 3 sport athlete.
This emphasis on 3 (organized) sports must stop.
Its pointless
Our softball players dont play softball 2 days a week then sit on the couch eating bon bons.