The summer is fast approaching and the athletic demands being placed on kids are even greater. Summer offers free time to fill and sports are usually the best filler. However, with the increased scheduling of our kids summer in sports, comes the increased risk of injuries, especially overuse injuries.

One of the biggest injury areas is overuse injuries in the shoulder. Does your child play volleyball, tennis, baseball, softball, football or swim? If so, the chances of an overuse shoulder injury are greatly increased according to Dr. Eric Edmonds, Director of Orthopedics at Children’s Hospital in San Diego. “Overuse is just that, it’s a repetitive action, minimal rest period, and inappropriate training injury,” he says. As you can see the recipe for overuse injuries is great in the summer because of the additional free time to fill. The summer opens the door for your kids to do a repetitive action more often because of all the free time.

Dr. Lyle Micheli, Director of the Division of Sports Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston, believes that preparing for a season can pay dividends. “The common denominator is usually a sudden increase in the rate of training and the volume of training,” he says. “A child that has been doing almost no throwing over the winter suddenly starts throwing as much as 300 skilled throws a week which include not only games but also informal pitching practices with their parents or friends.”

The simplest thing you can do to help your kid avoid injury is to help them be prepared from the upcoming summer season. Preseason training is a must in any sport, especially for those emphasizing overhead movement.

If baseball practice is a few weeks away, it’s vital to prepare the shoulder for the rigors workload.

1- You can simply play catch with your kids leading up to the season. Gradually build in distance and repetitions of throws.

“The other preventative issue is usually the rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers, meaning the muscles that are high rep, low weight that control arm position, need to exercised; and preferentially before a season starts to help prevent injury, Says Dr. Edmonds”.

1- Simply google rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers exercises and find great ones.
2- Or sign-up for membership and download our shoulder injury prevention program.

Youth Fitness always suggest getting a pre-exercise physical from a physician prior to engaging in or having your child engage in physical activity.