Why Johnny Can't Plant the Foot

If she didn't like getting caught in the rain ... she wouldn't slip and blow her knee out.

 

I wrote a story on the increasing amount of arm injuries in baseball a year or two ago, and this was the prevailing theory from orthopedics:

The growing epidemic of ligament and tendon damage in athletics today is partially due to the superior conditioning of today's athletes. They push themselves to physical limits that athletes in past generations just didn't reach, and their bodies simply can't keep up.

Increasing muscle mass puts stress on ligaments and tendons. That's obvious. But with the growth of the high-intensity circuit training that emphasizes quickness, the bigger muscles are moving faster, making athletes move faster, and it creates a perfect storm for ligament damage.

Athletes are supernatural, in a way. Their bodies aren't built to withstand the pressure and intensity that athletes put them through.

 

Great job but what does that have to do with this story. Most 10 - 12 year olds are not yet developing muscle mass or training in the manner which you mention.

 

If the kid is doing squats at 12 years old, he's stressing his body in a way it isn't ready for.

 

That is not consistant with what you wrote in your previous post.

 

Not sure I'm following you, Boom.

If a 12-year-old is doing squats, he's already building muscle mass a 12-year-old body probably isn't equipped to handle.

My first post was more about the epidemic of serious injuries from the high school level and above, not necessarily geared toward the injuries in youth sports. Other than the fact that AAU and year-round leagues are probably putting a toll on their bodies that they just aren't ready for, I don't know of any explanation for why kids are tearing ligaments that early.

 

Well that was my point- the Times story was about athletes 12 and under tearing their ACL.

You did not say but my sense was that your story had to do with older athletes. Now you have confirmed.

Most kids 12 and under are not yet developing a lot of muscle mass.

I think what is happening is that youger athletes are playing more games at a higher level and the odds for injury go up. I would not label it repetitive motion injury though.

Training is tricky some would say that better conditioned athletes would be less suseptable to injury.

 

Dads trying to teach Johnny how to throw a slider at age 9 have a lot to do with those arm injuries. Kids shouldn't be throwing breaking balls at that age.

 

That is not what the great Cal Ripkin says

 

I had the proliferation of female ACL tears explained to me this way: The female ACL is narrower than the male one and bone gaps in the female knee are also narrower, and many times the result is that a sudden change in direction or jump-stop is cause the bone to essentially cut the ligament.

 

That makes sense . Also see that girls are playing more competitive sports at a much younger age than they used to.

 

Girls shouldn't be playing sports. It takes away from their home ec classes.