I'm seeing/hearing more severe injurys.

[D.G. OutLaws 16u]

In the past year I know of more female athletes who need sugery/therapy or are recovering from injury than I do that have had the flu or common cold. Be it knees, shoulders, ankles, torn muscles or ligement sprains. I realize (very exciting) the growth in female sports, just by doing the math across the board these injury numbers increase. Most athletes i know are 2-3 sport kids, volleyball, basketball and our favorite....softball. Bottom line is i'm seeing an ugly trend.
Over the past few years teaching proper conditioning, weight training, stretching, diet, rest and most important awareness has prioritized higher in my responsibilities as a coach(TB 18u). Our conditioning has always been geared towards short bursts, NOT endurance. For added injury prevention I have introduced and promote yoga to my athletes as an extra means of greater flexability, healthier living....and the bonus, peace of mind. I also became a huge fan of Dynamic Stretching. Stressing that rest is a huge part of the "complete" package.
Im blessed to be coaching intellegent workaholics. Most of my kids have drive to work harder, push thier toughness levels and limits. We all know bumps and dings will happen. I wish i could keep them in a safety bubble.
Is there more I could do as a coach? Or stay the course, count my blessings n keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Ken Krause]

In my opinion, the one area of all of this that gets ignored more than anything is rest. We are so focused on taking our children/players to the next level we just rush them from one activity to the next.

Think about the girl who plays volleyball and softball. She goes to v-ball practice where they do conditioning. Then the next day she goes to softball practice where they do conditioning. She hasn't had sufficient time to rest and recover, but instead keeps breaking down the muscles.

Even if it isn't conditioning, the constant pounding/use takes it toll. As I always say, if sitting at a desk clicking a mouse can cause Carpal-Tunnel, imagine what the often violent motion of sports can do.

The final element is all the games kids play today. Some teams, even in our area, try to get in 100 games. That's a lot of wear and tear. You wonder if they couldn't be just as good with fewer games. After all, football players play less than half of that, and the last time I looked the quality of the NFL and college football continues to go up.

 

[Lozza]

But I can tell from my personal experience that a bad pitching motion I had since young did not show up as an injury until I was 20. Then it was bad.

I had the same. Then I had a horrible year and the only thing that fixed it was having six months off.

Rest is so, so important. If the girls are doing sport every day, when are they supposed to rest?

 

[PEPPERS]

I had the attitude at one time that everyone else was doing it like this so it must be ok. After my daughter started going to her current pitching coach who has his teaching methods reviewed by Orthopedic Doctors and Surgeons I have a very different view.

As he explained to me that repetitive motion injuries to the young player is very real and should be taken very serious. The growing body if it is going to repeat a movement over and over it should be as natural and stress free to the body as possible. Injuries and damage may not show up until the later years in their life and it may not be realized that the incorrect body movements in sports at a young age is to blame.

You as an adult would not go to a trainer who had you do exercises that you thought were dangerous to your well being, but some of us me included send our kids to anyone who has a mound and pitching plate in their back yard and claims to be an expert on pitching or swing mechanics.

How much study has been done on repetitive motion injuries to the young body due to improper movements and how many coaches use this as a model for training? Think how many times you daughter or son repeats the pitching motion, throwing motion or the swing in their ball career.

Ken made a good comparison which I have previously used myself on the carpel tunnel issue, they make desk, computer key boards that reduce the stress on the hands and wrist, many companies provide training to their employees on how to use a keyboard to reduce injury. Some even avoid hiring employees who have bad typing form because they know they will eventually develop carpel tunnel.

I think this is a very important issue that does not get enough attention on stress to the young growing body of repetitive motion.

 

[bobbyb]

Outlaws...i think your taking an excellent approach. I learned Dynamic Stretching way back when i was doing karate and working in the health care field. The order of exercise/training and adding things such as yoga, nutrition, peace of mind and especially emphasizing REST is an excellent addition to training. I don't think you can do much more contextually.

To bad there are hs coaches and trainers that don't get it.

We lost our multisport first baseman for this year... with a totally blown out knee... during basketball. When i coached a summer rec team at a small school a few years back...we had 5 girls in knee braces...that were from basketball.

The mother of one of the girls is in the medical field and said the surgeon of these girls specifically said.... they are not being trained properly and its creating muscle strength imbalances that are leading to these injuries. U would thunk...that as a coach....that if that knowledge got back to you...you would be looking to change your approach. Unfortunately...they haven't.

I am glad that you as a coach...are considering your approach.

 

[Ken Krause]

Peppers, you bring up another good point. Sometimes parents are willing to take their kids to a pitching coach who teaches things that might add a little more speed but are dangerous to a growing body. They don't seem to be concerned about the latter, though, as long as little Angel can dominate in the circle. It's a quick fix that becomes a long-term break in my opinion.

 

[chinamigarden]

Outlaws...i think your taking an excellent approach. I learned Dynamic Stretching way back when i was doing karate and working in the health care field. The order of exercise/training and adding things such as yoga, nutrition, peace of mind and especially emphasizing REST is an excellent addition to training. I don't think you can do much more contextually.

To bad there are hs coaches and trainers that don't get it.

We lost our multisport first baseman for this year... with a totally blown out knee... during basketball. When i coached a summer rec team at a small school a few years back...we had 5 girls in knee braces...that were from basketball.

The mother of one of the girls is in the medical field and said the surgeon of these girls specifically said.... they are not being trained properly and its creating muscle strength imbalances that are leading to these injuries. U would thunk...that as a coach....that if that knowledge got back to you...you would be looking to change your approach. Unfortunately...they haven't.

I am glad that you as a coach...are considering your approach.

Girls have a much, much higher risk for ACL injuries then boys. A multitude of factors including body shape (hip to knee angle) hormones and the sequence the muscles use to fire when leaping and landing. Girls usually play more upright, bending at the waist while boys tend to play more bent at the knees and hips. The upright technique ads stress to the knee joint.

There are websites and training programs dedicated to teaching girls how to jump more safely. Anyone who has a girl athlete should be researching this topic. Do not wait for coaches to tell you about it, chances are it will be too late.

 

[D.G. OutLaws 16u]

Chinamigarden-

There are websites and training programs dedicated to teaching girls how to jump more safely. Anyone who has a girl athlete should be researching this topic. Do not wait for coaches to tell you about it, chances are it will be too late.

Do you know any spacific sites?

Girls have a much, much higher risk for ACL injuries then boys. A multitude of factors including body shape (hip to knee angle) hormones and the sequence the muscles use to fire when leaping and landing. Girls usually play more upright, bending at the waist while boys tend to play more bent at the knees and hips. The upright technique ads stress to the knee joint.

Awareness through educating the individual athletes appears to be key. On ways to shed light to coaches and athletes coming up that don't know that thier spacific body type has to be conditioned exclusive for females. My intent is to empower them with as much knowledge on spacific do's and don'ts. I'm on the Park Dist Board. With female programs consistanly growing in numbers I am going to put on the agenda health awareness. I think it starts with creating programs for our volunteer coaches. We allready mandate all coaches (assitants as well) attend a coaching clinic we outsource and pass ASEP, American Sport Education Program.
Next will be to attack the School Board to shed some light on the fact that the Bobby Knight coaching style HAS to change for the female programs....that should be fun. My hope is with state of the art younger, smarter teacher/coaches entering the system that eventually a healthier trend will triumph.

Thanks to all for the help and support

 

[Poseidon]

Chinamigarden-

Do you know any spacific sites?

Thanks to all for the help and support

Hi DG Outlaws 16U. My suggestions is to start at the following URL:

LA84 Foundation - reducing acl injuries

Good luck!
Michel

 

[chinamigarden]

Chinamigarden-

Do you know any spacific sites?



Awareness through educating the individual athletes appears to be key. On ways to shed light to coaches and athletes coming up that don't know that thier spacific body type has to be conditioned exclusive for females. My intent is to empower them with as much knowledge on spacific do's and don'ts. I'm on the Park Dist Board. With female programs consistanly growing in numbers I am going to put on the agenda health awareness. I think it starts with creating programs for our volunteer coaches. We allready mandate all coaches (assitants as well) attend a coaching clinic we outsource and pass ASEP, American Sport Education Program.
Next will be to attack the School Board to shed some light on the fact that the Bobby Knight coaching style HAS to change for the female programs....that should be fun. My hope is with state of the art younger, smarter teacher/coaches entering the system that eventually a healthier trend will triumph.

Thanks to all for the help and support

This is a website I have been too, it hasn't been updated lately. The woman who runs it went to school with my wife and they met up years later as managers for the same health care system. Fish around this site and you will find articles and other pieces of info, plus Laura has some videos for sale. Girls Can Jump-ACL Injury Prevention,Female Knee Care,Scientific Jump training,Athletic Excellence