Why do parents allow this to happen?

[Unregistered]

I don't think you are aloud to practice/play 7 days a week. There has to be a day off. I've never herd of a high school practice going for 2plus hours. I think coaches now are more mindful of rest and revory and don't go all out at practices if there's a game coming up. If they want to keep their job they rest the players so they can win the games.
Can we please stop with the all high school coaches are unqualified. I think we are at the point now where high school coaches know what they are doing. Now weather or not they are good coaches that's a case by case just like club soccer coaches there's a ton of those out there that aren't good either.


Question does your kid go to soccer tournaments? They normally play 2 games a day or atleast a game every day for 3days in a row doesn't that seem alittle much?

I disagree that all high school coaches know what they are doing; some just reinforce bad habits for a win. Also all high school facilities are not the same. Some are good and some are not so playing on those surfaces will increase likelihood of an injury/even a turned ankle in divots.

But your last point is the biggie....Back to back games (and back to back to back in tournaments as you noted) on weekends. This is the biggest area of overuse injuries.

That's why the GDA (and this isn't a plug, but simply stating a fact) works. Very, very rarely are there back to back games even in conference/leagues plays.

If your kid is playing in 50+ games per year (tournaments in there), that's too much. In the era of Got Soccer points, this was common. No need. The ultimate goal is to either play for fun and/or get seen for college. You don't need 50+ games (not including practices) to accomplish this.

[Unregistered]

Typical. NO, NO, NO, NO. You do NOT need to shell out yet more cash to prevent repetitive motion type injuries. You need to be educated and have your child educated on the importance of developing complementary muscle groups. Riding a stationary bike is actually a good start!

Best thing to do is work with a sports trainer that works with athletes to put together a program. Given the cost of club sports, it is relatively cheap. We pay $100 for 8 small group sessions, which works out to be about a month. Again, not cheap but well worth it. It includes speed/agility/explosiveness components as well as strength training and injury prevention. A good trainer will do an analysis of posture, range of motion, flexibility, and movement analysis as well. This isn’t just some trainer in a gym. This is working with a professional exercise scientist who specializes in athletes. You’ll get this support in college playing a varsity sport, but it really is needed much earlier.

Parents will pay thousands a year to train their athlete in a sport and thousands on travel to go to competitions, but balk at the most important prt of physical training which will make them a better athlete while helping them stay injury free? Common sense really.

[Unregistered]

First world problems

Word!

[Unregistered]

Best thing to do is work with a sports trainer that works with athletes to put together a program. Given the cost of club sports, it is relatively cheap. We pay $100 for 8 small group sessions, which works out to be about a month. Again, not cheap but well worth it. It includes speed/agility/explosiveness components as well as strength training and injury prevention. A good trainer will do an analysis of posture, range of motion, flexibility, and movement analysis as well. This isn’t just some trainer in a gym. This is working with a professional exercise scientist who specializes in athletes. You’ll get this support in college playing a varsity sport, but it really is needed much earlier.

Parents will pay thousands a year to train their athlete in a sport and thousands on travel to go to competitions, but balk at the most important prt of physical training which will make them a better athlete while helping them stay injury free? Common sense really.

100% this. If your athlete is serious about performance and improving, seek out the advice of a trainer who knows what they're doing. It can make a huge difference. I'm not saying to start this at age 9, but around7th or 8th grade is a good time. If they bit ch about doing it, then they're not that serious and probably won't make it to or through college sports.

[Unregistered]

Best thing to do is work with a sports trainer that works with athletes to put together a program. Given the cost of club sports, it is relatively cheap. We pay $100 for 8 small group sessions, which works out to be about a month. Again, not cheap but well worth it. It includes speed/agility/explosiveness components as well as strength training and injury prevention. A good trainer will do an analysis of posture, range of motion, flexibility, and movement analysis as well. This isn’t just some trainer in a gym. This is working with a professional exercise scientist who specializes in athletes. You’ll get this support in college playing a varsity sport, but it really is needed much earlier.

Parents will pay thousands a year to train their athlete in a sport and thousands on travel to go to competitions, but balk at the most important prt of physical training which will make them a better athlete while helping them stay injury free? Common sense really.

You are all out of control
Never heard such stupid drivel
Trainers for kids...another marketing scheme
They are never going to play beyond h/s or college, so let them be and let the chips fall where they may.
Stop dreaming thru your kid

[Unregistered]

Typical. NO, NO, NO, NO. You do NOT need to shell out yet more cash to prevent repetitive motion type injuries. You need to be educated and have your child educated on the importance of developing complementary muscle groups. Riding a stationary bike is actually a good start!

A bike? Wholly insufficient and only free if you already own one. YOung athletes don't know what they're doing either - they over do it, have bad form. A good trainer can give them a series of programs to work on; often times they do small classes which helps bring the cost down. A few $ well spent.

[Unregistered]

You are all out of control
Never heard such stupid drivel
Trainers for kids...another marketing scheme
They are never going to play beyond h/s or college, so let them be and let the chips fall where they may.
Stop dreaming thru your kid

My kid is in college now, and has battled leg and back injuries for awhile. College trainer is working on posture and improving muscle activation in certain movements which could have been trained out of her when she was in her early teens. I wish we had considered those things when she was younger, but she was fast and agile and we never thought that there was any issue when we watched her and compared her to other kids her age. Big mistake. A few hundred $'s back then would have been a great investment.

[Unregistered]

This must be a girl’s thread. I’m so glad I have a boy.

[Unregistered]

You are all out of control
Never heard such stupid drivel
Trainers for kids...another marketing scheme
They are never going to play beyond h/s or college, so let them be and let the chips fall where they may.
Stop dreaming thru your kid

You’re out of touch and if you have a female athlete, likely risking injury and worse problems down the road. Our “kids” (mine is in HS), are now expected to maintain almost pro levels of training year round (while balancing school). My kid is on track to play D1 college soccer and have a significant portion of her undergrad education paid for. Sports performance training has been and continues to be an important part of staying healthy, injury free and competing at the level she competes at. It is what it is and has become the norm for top level Hs athletes heading to D1.

$100/mo to stay healthy, injury free and perform better at her sport is a small price as compared to the $10’s of thousands or $100’s of thousands potentially of dollars at stake for her scholarship.

On the men’s side, all I’ll say is that more boys are blowing out their knees at younger and younger ages. Watch the video in this thread. That kid was in middle school and having his ACL repaired. Proper strength and conditioning can help.

[Unregistered]

This must be a girl’s thread. I’m so glad I have a boy.

Yes... having a boy means you won't have to stress over college recruiting. All of the money goes to internationals.... Whether he gets injured or not, the outcome will be the same.

[Unregistered]

You are all out of control
Never heard such stupid drivel
Trainers for kids...another marketing scheme
They are never going to play beyond h/s or college, so let them be and let the chips fall where they may.
Stop dreaming thru your kid

At some point, the kids put on muscle mass through working out. You want someone knowledgeable to point them in the right direction how to do it. I've heard of kids (girls)herniating discs because they weren't lifting correctly. That's not just a soccer injury. That is something that will continue to harm you as you age and have babies.

The information is out there. Better safe than sorry.

[Unregistered]

You’re out of touch and if you have a female athlete, likely risking injury and worse problems down the road. Our “kids” (mine is in HS), are now expected to maintain almost pro levels of training year round (while balancing school). My kid is on track to play D1 college soccer and have a significant portion of her undergrad education paid for. Sports performance training has been and continues to be an important part of staying healthy, injury free and competing at the level she competes at. It is what it is and has become the norm for top level Hs athletes heading to D1.

$100/mo to stay healthy, injury free and perform better at her sport is a small price as compared to the $10’s of thousands or $100’s of thousands potentially of dollars at stake for her scholarship.

On the men’s side, all I’ll say is that more boys are blowing out their knees at younger and younger ages. Watch the video in this thread. That kid was in middle school and having his ACL repaired. Proper strength and conditioning can help.

Just give her a day off...

[Unregistered]

Yes... having a boy means you won't have to stress over college recruiting. All of the money goes to internationals.... Whether he gets injured or not, the outcome will be the same.

The funny thing is if parents actually understood what was involved being a college varsity athlete, they would change their tune, even for boys. 20 years ago, pre-season and post-season I was in the weight room with trainers and the rest of my team 3 days a week. It was mandatory. That hasn't changed, so not sure why parents think their HS aged kid shouldn't be working out in a similar fashion. Post-puberty, males can pack on muscle. That means HS for most boys.

[Unregistered]

At some point, the kids put on muscle mass through working out. You want someone knowledgeable to point them in the right direction how to do it. I've heard of kids (girls)herniating discs because they weren't lifting correctly. That's not just a soccer injury. That is something that will continue to harm you as you age and have babies.

The information is out there. Better safe than sorry.

I think boys are even worse - they try to lift too much to show off, then snap something (including a disc like one male soccer player just did at our school). I see teens at my gym fuking around with too much all the time.

I was told by both a doc and well respected trainer girls and boys shouldn't start doing any serious lifting until they've come close to finishing puberty. So for most girls that will be late MS/early HS and most boys into HS. Regardless of the start they need to be show correct form and how to build up slowly.

[Unregistered]

Of course the training 'experts' want to cash in on this epidemic--and it is one. It really isn't as complicated as some try to make it. Your child really should be doing some cross training to lessen the risk of serious leg injury: swimming, biking, some weights.