"Kids are broken by the time they get to college."

Dr. Neeru Jayanthi, the director of sports medicine research and education at Emory

Specializing in sport is a double-edged sword. Your athlete will be able to fine-tune the small nuances of technical skill, but at the cost of diversity in demands and performance. Without proper recovery and physical training regimes to counteract the repeated demands of the chosen sport, your athletes are at high risk for injury.

Independent of either route you take is another issue... you're playing TOO MUCH. This article puts into context an issue that parents continually choose to ignore. Your athlete should NOT be competing year round. Period. I get it. It's an easy trap to fall into and you feel that if "Joey" is playing year-round your athlete needs to keep up...

If Micheal Jordan didn't play basketball for the entirety of the year explain to me why your youth or high school athlete should?

There needs to be time between sport and competition for physical training, mental breaks from the competition, and the preparation of the athlete for the upcoming season.

This is exactly why we create unique individualized programs for every athlete and client that walks through our doors... to address these issues. I guarantee less sport and more structured strength & conditioning will separate your athletes from others in their age group. Their future coaches and college programs will be thankful and tell you how great you are as a parent for preparing them for the demands of competition.

STOP BREAKING YOUR KIDS.

I'll leave this open to discussion: comment your thoughts below.

If you're interested in having your athletes work with HansenAthletics you know where to find me.