The other day I promised to share the 2 things that keep us from prioritizing health for our children. Here is my theory...obliviousness and fear are the two root causes of increased rates of injuries in youth athletics.
Obliviousness
The parents and coaches who are not connecting the ever so apparent dots between chronic injuries and chronic wear and tear on the same muscles/joints/ligaments/bones (which equates to chronic sport playing and chronic running.
Fear and Conformity
At the expense of long-term joy, health, and performance. Primarily, the fear of falling behind or missing out is the reason athletes keep playing year round with NO TIME OFF.
Kids are getting used to be injured. This is bad news. It is so not good for their mindset and certainly not good for their performance. Many also refuse to tell coaches or parents when they are injured. It drives me nuts. They don’t want coach to write them off. They KNOW the will not get praised or recognized if they are not playing sports. Sad, really sad.
I’ve always said, “It does not matter how strong, fast, gifted, or skilled you are. When you are injured, you better become a motivating water boy (which is an important role I must add- different article though).
Listen to this testimonial from one the the WISEST student athletes we work with:
“I just came off of a two week break (that is, NO PLAYING SOFTBALL, at all, just foam rolling, stretching, and recovering).
When I came back, I hit the ball so hard it broke the net I was hitting into. I couldn’t wait to get back onto the field, a feeling of excitement I haven’t had in quite a while.”
If your kid wants to:
✅Stay healthy and avoid injuries
✅Keep JOY and enthusiasm for sports high
✅Crush it, perform better than ever before
I recommend time off. Strategic time off. If you need help with understanding what they looks like, we will share our 12 Month Secret Success Formula for healthy athletes next week :-)
Dedicated to your athlete’s success,
Coach Andrew
P.S. If you want to learn more about our Love-Powered Leadership, UNCOMMON approach to maximize the joy, performance, and success of student-athletes, join the tribe here→ www.pfpfit.com/lpl
