Youth Sport Injury

[Cbbeckett]

There was a recent post about pitch count/pitches thrown in an inning. Since that time several prominent sports figures have brought this topic to the forefront as well.

I worked as a collegiate strength and conditioning coach for 9 years and then had the opportunity to work with Andrews Sports Med and ASMI in Bham for 4 years. I worked with all ages, all sports, and all levels of competition, as well as helping with research with ASMI.

Risk Factors for injury in Youth Sports:

1. Specialization at an early age. Focus becomes the skills needed to play that sport. We leave behind foundational movement and development.
2. Year-round participation in a single sport. Due to the repetitive nature to perfect the skills of a sport, the body experiences strength and flexibility/mobility imbalances. Most of these are never corrected.
3. Organized sports at an early age. Our kids rarely play. Instead of running, jumping, climbing etc, we have them begin structured sport activity leading to risk factors 1 and 2 above.

Kids need to play. Overall movement should be the focus. Kids also need to play as many sports as possible as long as possible. Finally, recovery is key. In Baseball, kids need a minimum of 2 to 3 months away from the sport. This includes hitting/pitching sessions in the "off season" not just away from Games.
We have made great strides in some cases with pitch count/innings thrown, but these other risk factors are the bigger issue. I could go on, but will leave it there.