Are you doing all you can to protect your players from tearing their ACLs? Instituting a regular dynamic warm-up is an important first step toward keeping our athletes healthy. In my last post, The Dynamic Warm up, Why Do it?, we looked at the … Continue reading
Wendy LeBolt
This week I met with a group of high school basketball players starting their pre-season conditioning. They headed straight for the end line to start warm-ups, and then … waited for me to tell them what to do. Me: Do … Continue reading
Why do so many kids not only keep getting injured, but keep getting re-injured?! The biggest risk factor for injury isn’t over-training or lack of fitness, poor coaching or poor preparation. It isn’t even reckless play. The biggest predictor of injury … Continue reading
I did something I have never done before at a Fit2Finish soccer session recently. I scrapped my complete injury prevention training plan, and we spent the whole 40 minutes talking, stretching and mending. Why? Because all but one of the players … Continue reading
With Jill Ellis headlining the US Soccer’s Urban Soccer Symposium event, who’s gonna miss the opening kickoff? Not me. Coach Ellis lived up to her billing. Well-spoken, on-point, honest, and humbled by the recent poor (by USA standards) showing of the US … Continue reading
Play is too important to be left only to children, says Jennifer Wallace in the May 23 issue of the Washington Post Health Section. “It offers a sense of engagement and pleasure, takes the player out of a sense of time … Continue reading
The celebration of International Women’s Day has gotten our attention. Here in the States, “A Day without a Woman” has resulted in some school districts closing for the day because so many teachers have requested leave. This has left thousands of children … Continue reading
In the last 15 years I have watched the youth athletic field transform from playground to competitive cauldron. As college programs expanded, dangling the promise of scholarship dollars, and sports clubs upped the ante with paid coaches and select teams, … Continue reading
“In God we trust. All others must provide references.” That’s the way a renowned research scientist began his presentation at a conference of the American College of Sports Medicine, the largest gathering of sports medicine practitioners in the world. He knows what we … Continue reading
Kids need a challenge but they also need special handling. Most people think, why? My kids are flexible, resilient, and young. They bounce back from anything thrown at them. Let’s throw it all at them! They can handle it. Not … Continue reading