As a parent of a young athlete, like me, I often get asked the following questions about youth hydration: How much should my child be drinking? When should they be drinking? What should they be drinking? Why are children more prone to heat illness and how do we prevent it? What happens in the winter when it’s cooler? The youth sports programs don’t typically have nutritionists on staff guiding and educating the athletes or parents, so it’s time to put [...]
Is sports specialization helping kids get better at sports and keeping them healthy? Sports participation in younger athletes has evolved over the years from child-driven activities for fun to intense training, performance-enhancement, and specialized training. This changing environment has left parents, young athletes, and coaches wondering and needing guidance on what is the most appropriate path of athlete development. Until recently, there has been very little published evidence to support any particular path or to outline any specific risks of [...]
By Melissa Baudo Marchetti, PT, DPT, SCS, MTC Is your elbow giving out on you when you play tennis? Do you feel pain whenever you grip your racket, type, text, write, carry something, or shake hands? You may be suffering from tennis elbow. Tennis elbow, clinically referred to as Lateral Epicondylitis, plagues approximately 40-50% of all recreational racquet sport athletes at some point in their career with most cases occurring after age 30. Tennis elbow is a common overuse [...]
Risks of Early Sport Specialization in Young Athletes Youth sport participation has increased tremendously over the past several decades. In the past 30 years, there has been a 200% increase in the number of children participating in youth sports. Sports are a great way for kids to develop skills, learn teamwork, set goals, and socialize with their peers. However, the days of simple recreational sport are slowly fading for many of our nation’s youth. Kids are being asked to [...]
The rotator cuff is comprised of four muscles and their tendons. They act to stabilize the shoulder as it moves through its full range of motion. Youth rotator cuff injury prevention and rehabilitation has become increasingly more important because of the dramatic rise in major shoulder and elbow surgeries. Overuse, excessive training, and poor mechanics can cause the tendons at the ends of the rotator cuff muscles to become strained, leading to pain and restricted movement of the arm. Proper [...]
