There has been a worrying trend over the last decade, we have seen a increase in the number kids attending the clinic for injuries including Back Pain, Knee Pain, Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injuries.
These injuries are usually reserved for adults but with the training regimes that some of these children are undertaking is comparable with professional athletes.
Our top tips for keeping your kids injury free:
Recovery & Off Season: Sleep, Recovery and a 8 week off season is key to injury prevention. This allows the body to rebuild after long sporting sessions and the toll of a lengthy season.
Late Specialisation: All the latest research has indicated that kids should wait into their teens to specialise in one sport. By playing a number of sports it ensures that your child develops a number of movement based skill sets.
Good Balance of Training & Game Schedule: Parents and coaches should keep track of their youth athletes training schedules ensuring that they are getting at least 2 days off each week. The majority of injuries seen in children are from chronic over use injuries which is preventable if a kid has a sensible training and schedule. Do not over train you athletes!
Functional Movement Screening (FMS): The FMS is one of the simple ways to see if your child is at risk of injury. The screening is scored out of 21, any score under 14 indicates an increased injury risk. At the clinic we use the FMS with all our clients and athletes to help them identify areas of potential injury risk.
If you child is suffering from a sports related injury or you would like more information on injury prevention please contact us.
