Reducing Injury Risk in Young Athletes

Sports and athletic activities are a great way for children and teens to learn new skills, interact with peers and strengthen their bodies and minds. Young athletes can use the below strategies to reduce injury risk and improve performance.

Warming Up

Reducing injury risk during sports begins at the start of every training session. Dynamic warm-ups can help reduce injury risk by getting a young athlete’s heart rate up, activating muscles, and improving flexibility. Try the following drills as different ways to warm up:

• Animal Warm Up: Bear crawls, crab or duck walks, and frog hops are full body, new ways to move and warm up
• Lucky Yoga: Pick a stretch or yoga pose for each number 1-6. Roll the dice and do whichever stretch pops up to keep things new
• Skippy Do: Try to skip forwards, sideways, and backwards to get your heart rate up and challenge different directions of moving

Cooling Down

After working out, performing a cool down activity sequence can help reduce injury risk by helping the body wind down to a resting state. Try the following routines as different ways to cool down:

• Walk and Talk: after finishing a hard workout, go directly into a walk with a workout buddy. Keep walking until it is easy to hold a conversation without having shortness of breath
• Top to Bottom Stretch: reach overhead to stretch out as tall as possible, then reach down towards the ground to be as short as possible. Repeat in different positions of sitting and standing and add in arm and leg active bending/straightening movements to get more of a stretch
• Belly Breathing: sitting or standing, rest one hand on the stomach and one hand on the chest. Take deep breaths through the nose and out through the mouth. Try to let the hand resting on the stomach move more than the hand resting on the chest by letting the belly expand with deep breaths

Throughout the Year

Athletes can prevent mental and physical fatigue with rest breaks taken at regular intervals. Some recommendations for preventing training burnout include:

• One day off per week from organized practice or training
• Two to three months off per year from individual sports
• Using rest periods from organized sport to move the body in new and fun ways, such as:
  • Completing workout classes or YouTube videos
  • Freeform dancing while listening to your favorite music
  • Going to a new sport outing with friends, like bowling or mini golf