Keith J. Cronin, DPT, CSCS

As with ACL injuries, female athletes are more prone than their male counterparts to small, hairline fractures of the lower (lumbar) spine, usually from  overtraining (e.g. overuse injuries) or improper loading of the spine.  Because such injuries can be misdiagnosed, it is important for coaches and parents to recognize the symptoms and seek appropriate medical treatment.

Youth baseball programs - Little League in particular -  have put new limits in place in recent years to reduce the number of pitches thrown per game, week, and for what team, prompting, indeed requiring, parents and coaches to get out "the clicker" to count pitches. With pitch limits in place, the attention seems to have turned to another important element in the pitching injury equation: the type of pitches being thrown.

The period between the end of physical therapy and the start of sports-specific conditioning is a critical time frame for young athletes following an an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear or rupture, reconstructive surgery, and months of rehabilitation.

Sports injuries are the result of three factors: age, degree of sport specialization, and training intensity:

The purpose of lifting weights and resistance training in sports is simple: as a means to an end (improving performance), not as an end in itself (lifting more weight).  Understanding the basic benefits from good lifting technique and risks of poor sports training is critical to developing a purposeful and appropriate strength training program.

A lot has been written about the subject of stretching and flexibility in sports. Studies abound on the effects of flexibility on muscular strength, joint motion, and injury prevention, but the picture seems to become more muddled with every passing day, with even the conventional wisdom that static stretching improves flexibility over resistance training recently called into question. But the fact remains: stretching improves flexibility, a foundation for athletic success.

Because the growth plates at the end of the major bones in a child's arms and legs are open, their muscles and bones are still developing, and because their hormone levels aren't the same as adults, intense strength or resistance training for youth athletes is inappropriate before skeletal maturity.

Stretching exercises maintains good shoulder flexibility and reduce the risk of rotator cuff and other injuries to baseball pitchers and other throwing athletes (football quarterbacks, javelin throwers).  Without a stretching program, athletes tend to develop muscle imbalances over the course of a season, exposing the athlete to increased risk of injury.

When athletes pitch for multiple teams during the same season or on unregulated travel ball team, parents should keep track of pitch counts to protect them from injury.

Unless your child has been to physical therapy for an injury before, you may not know what to think or expect as a parent. Here's some advice for parents from a physical therapist to make the rehabilitation process as smooth as possible and keep what's important in perspective.