A sore shoulder after every practice, a knee that aches by the third inning, a kid who used to beg to go to practice and now finds excuses to skip it — these are easy to write off as normal parts of playing sports. But they’re often the earliest signals of an overuse injury, the … [Read More…]
If your child plays a sport, you’ve probably noticed the trade-off: early practices, late games, homework, and a phone that never seems to power down at bedtime. Somewhere in that schedule, sleep is usually the first thing to get squeezed — and it’s also the thing your young athlete can least afford to lose. This … [Read More…]
Swim practice builds fitness in the water, but the strength, core stability, and body control that make a stroke efficient are built just as much on land. Dryland training — sometimes called dryland swimming, dry land exercises, or land drills for swimmers — is bodyweight and light-resistance exercise done outside the pool, and most of … [Read More…]
If your child plays organized sports, overuse injuries are one of the most common — and most preventable — threats to their long-term athletic health. Unlike a sudden sprain or fracture, overuse injuries build up quietly over weeks or months of repetitive stress, often going unnoticed until they become serious enough to sideline a young … [Read More…]
If sit-ups are still the go-to core drill at your athlete’s practice, it’s time for an upgrade. Traditional sit-ups do work the rectus abdominis, but they also heavily recruit the hip flexors and load the lumbar spine with repeated flexion, while doing little to build the anti-rotation stability and power transfer that sport actually demands. … [Read More…]
Footwork drills for young athletes carry over into every sport — basketball, soccer, football, tennis, and beyond. Great footwork is the difference between a kid who looks athletic and one who looks awkward, and unlike height or raw speed, footwork is almost entirely trainable with the right drills at the right age. This guide breaks … [Read More…]
If your young athlete is running out of gas in the second half—legs heavy, pace dropping, focus fading—the fix probably isn’t more laps around the field. Building genuine stamina for youth athletes requires conditioning that mirrors what actually happens in competition: short explosive efforts, quick directional changes, and the ability to recover and go again. … [Read More…]
ACL injury prevention exercises for youth athletes are the most important strength work most kids never do. Female soccer, basketball, and lacrosse players are 4-6x more likely to tear an ACL than males, and youth ACL surgeries have tripled in the last 20 years. The good news is striking: structured prevention programs reduce ACL injuries … [Read More…]
Youth athlete development reached a turning point this week, with a $5 million soccer investment, record girls flag football participation, and new injury-prevention science reshaping how young players train and compete. From corporate commitments to academic research, the forces behind youth athlete development are accelerating — and parents, coaches, and organizations need to keep pace. … [Read More…]
The best warm-up routines for youth sports practice take 8 to 12 minutes, replace old-school static stretching with dynamic movement, and end with a sport-specific push so kids arrive at the whistle ready to move. Skipping this step — or reducing it to a lazy jog and a few toe touches — leaves young athletes … [Read More…]
Youth sports news April 2026 reached a loud week as April’s Youth Sports Safety Month pushed injury-prevention data into the spotlight, AI-powered wearables challenged how coaches read adolescent load, and state high school track championships locked in final dates. If you coach kids, raise an athlete, or run a program, these are the stories shaping … [Read More…]
Learning how to prevent youth sports injuries is one of the most important responsibilities parents and coaches share, because keeping young athletes healthy means keeping them in the game they love for years to come. Every year, more than 3.5 million children under age 14 receive medical treatment for sports-related injuries, and the majority of … [Read More…]
When it comes to youth sports, parents and coaches are often faced with a big question: should kids specialize in one sport early, or should they play multiple sports as they grow? It’s a hot topic in athletic development, with strong arguments on both sides—but the research and growing expert consensus are clear: multi-sport participation … [Read More…]
How to Warm Up for Basketball Safely A proper warm-up is one of the most overlooked aspects of basketball preparation, especially among youth players. Jumping straight into full-speed drills or scrimmages without warming up increases the risk of muscle strains, ankle sprains, and other preventable injuries. A good warm-up takes only 10 to 15 minutes … [Read More…]
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