In my article The Rise in Youth Sports Injuries, I discussed how prevalent youth sports injuries have become and listed several articles as reference. In this post, I would like to offer some basic principles of injury prevention by directing you toward articles that detail important pieces of this information. Additionally, in Part 2, I will take this a step further by encouraging conditioning/training in four other areas that are often neglected. The time spent will be well worth the effort.
Most coaches and athletes are aware of the traditional approach to injury prevention. These include wearing of proper equipment (and fitting of that equipment), warm-up and cool down, proper stretching, fluid intake, conditioning and strength-type training, in addition to several other basic preventive measures. The following articles will help in detailing some of these basic principles:
How to Prevent Sports Injuries: Tips you can use to stay safe whatever sport you play by Elizabeth Quinn
Sports Injury Prevention Tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics
Preventing Sports Injuries from the Ohio State University Medical Center
Sports Preventing Sports Injuries Video by Dr. Gary Brazina
There is some very good advice, for athletes and parents, in the above articles; however, in Part 2 of Preventing Youth Sport Injuries, I would like to add to this body of advice by providing information that I feel has been neglected in many youth sports programs. This information will focus in four critical areas: Functional sports-specific training, core strengthening, proprioception, and improvements in flexibility (rather than just stretching as a warm-up).
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