Parenting Elite Athletes

Regular PT visits can help prevent sports injuries and improve athletic performance, says physical therapist Patricia Ladis.

Because one of their most important jobs is to identify and correct muscular and other imbalances, a physical therapist is really an efficiency expert, says Patricia Ladis.

Four time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero played sports beside ice hockey until she got to college.  She urges parents to resist the increasing pressure on their child to specialize too early. Playing different sports helps a child develop different muscles and skills that make them better at their chosen sport, and is fun, which was what sport should be all about.  Early specialization can lead to burnout, Ruggiero says, so says parents need to make sure their kids get a physical and mental break from sports every year.

Four-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero says the love of sport must come from within each child; it can't be from the parent.  She urges parents to expose their kids to lots of different sports when they are young.  Once they find one they love, parents can help them be the best they can be at that sport by making sure, before every season, they still want to play, and, if they do, accepting the responsibililties that go along with being on a team, even if it means going to hockey practice at 5 a.m. in the morning when they would rather sleep.

Four-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero says she owes everything to her parents, whose support, not just in making sure she got all the equipment she needed and to practice but ate the right kind of food, was a key to her athletic success.

One way parents and coaches can help a child realize their full athletic potential, says four-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero, is to explain honestly what they may be able to achieve if they set goals and work hard.