3 biggest mistakes putting kids at risk when they play sports: doctor

They’re in a league of their own!

Studies suggest that over half of children aged 6 to 17 participate in youth sports. It’s essential to establish good habits around sleep, nutrition, hydration and practice at the beginning of a sports season to minimize injury risk and maximize performance.

Here is how parents can help their goal-getters avoid perils that can hinder their physical and mental well-being.

Ask the important questions

There are a few things parents can do to assist their athletes before the fall sports season is in full swing.

First, know the lay of the land. You should ask the school or club about their resources and emergency action plans.

Is there an athletic trainer or physical therapist on site? What sort of strength and conditioning programming do they have? Is there a specific gym, and is there someone guiding kids through that process?

And what’s the weather protocol for outdoor sports? If there’s thunder, will kids be hustled off the field?

Also, make sure there are plans for when it’s too hot — is there an ice bath if a kid experiences heat stroke or exhaustion?

And finally, find out if there’s an automated external defibrillator (AED) on site.

Sudden cardiac death in young athletes is rare, but it does happen.

An AED dramatically increases the chances of survival. Ensure that the school or club not only has the device, but that everyone knows where it is. No training is required to use an AED — it even has voice and visual instructions for easy use.

Ease the transition

Next, make sure the transition happens slowly. 

If your child has been spending the entire summer on the couch, you can’t throw them back into practice five days a week right off the bat.

Encourage them to start by jogging or playing a couple of friendly pickup games that don’t have the same intensity as competitive sports.

Also emphasize stretching, especially if they’ve had a growth spurt this summer.

Muscles and tendons slowly stretch and lengthen to accommodate growing bones. They can become tight and prone to injury during periods of rapid growth.

Stretching is known to improve flexibility but can also prevent sudden and overuse injuries.

Beware these three alley oops

There are a lot of pitfalls with youth sports. The biggest one is overuse, which comes in a variety of forms.

One is simply volume. Kids are still growing, and their bodies can’t handle as much as adults can.

So the rule of thumb is that kids should not participate in organized sports for more hours per week than their age. That means if a child is 10, all of their games and practices should add up to 10 hours or less per week.

We also want them to diversify by playing different sports.

Early sports specialization, which means playing the same sport for more than eight months a year, can lead to burnout, severe acute injuries and repetitive stress on the body.

Playing various sports engages a wide range of muscle groups and motor patterns.

Another pitfall is focusing only on the well-known muscle groups, like the quads, hamstrings, biceps and triceps.

They are important — but so are a lot of the little guys. For example, the core is often underappreciated.

It’s not that we need a six-pack. Strengthening the paraspinals in the back and the obliques on the sides of the torso not only helps to prevent low back pain, but it can also aid runners to sprint faster and pitchers to have higher velocities.

Those small muscles really help, and putting in a little bit of effort with them is going to go a long way.

Engage in warm-ups and cool-downs

Not every team has warm-up time built into practice, so make sure your kids arrive five to 10 minutes early to jog or do some dynamic stretching, like butt kicks and monster walks.

Warm-up routines like the FIFA 11+ or PEP (Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance) programs can help reduce the risk of injuries like ACL tears.

On the other side, it’s important not to rush home. Spend five to 10 minutes after practice to stretch and rehydrate.

Remember to fuel and hydrate

You really are what you eat. Your body breaks food down into smaller components that it can use to build and repair various tissues.

It becomes harder for kids to focus on good nutrition as they get older and start to eat more outside of the home.

We need to make sure that they’re consuming complex carbs and enough protein to build muscle mass and not just grabbing sugary food.

Hydration is also super important. And that’s true even as we kiss summer goodbye.

It’s really hot out there. Our athletes need to go to practice with enough water — and they should drink it throughout the workout and when they get home.

Why rest and recovery are key

Recovery is a crucial part of training as well.

Exercise causes microscopic damage to muscle fibers. The body repairs and rebuilds the muscles during sleep and on rest days, which is how muscles grow stronger.

Kids should take one or two days a week off from sports and get adequate sleep as many nights as possible.

Children aged 6 to 13 should be getting nine to 11 hours of slumber, while 14- to 17-year-olds need eight to 10 hours.

When to see a doctor

If your child’s not able to walk, then they definitely need to be seen by a provider.

They should also go to the doctor if they can’t bear weight on their hip, knee or ankle, if there’s lots of swelling in their knee or another joint or if they can’t fully straighten or bend their knee.

Sometimes things pop a little bit or click. As long as it’s not painful, that’s usually OK. 

Playing through pain is not a good idea. When you’re in pain, your biomechanics are altered. That puts you at risk of other, sometimes more significant injuries. Plus, you’re not getting the same gains from your practice. 

Sports can be so important to a kid’s development — and to their general happiness. We want to get them back on the field, but in the right way.

Dr. Elise Bixby is a pediatric and adult sports medicine physician and orthopedic surgeon for NYU Langone Orthopedics. She sees pediatric patients at the Center for Children, part of Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone. In addition to patient care, she engages in research at NYU Langone Orthopedics and collaborates with colleagues nationwide.