By Vincent M Burke, President of Infinity Fitness & Sports Institute, LLC
Injuries among children have been on an epidemic rise over the past ten years. Many experts, including Infinity Fitness & Sports Institute (IFSI), agree with the claims. The National Center for Sports Safety (NCSS) is claiming that more than one half of sports related injuries are due to over–use. These NCSS has reported that injuries are stemming from the following causes:
Too much stress being put on immature bones,
Insufficient rest after play and/or injury,
No physical therapy intervention after an injury,
Poor training and conditioning or none,
Poor instruction/athletic mechanics,
Not monitoring frequency, intensity and time of play
The baseball junior little leagues around the country have been the focus of injury reporting and observation this spring. Articles on over-use injuries have appeared frequently in local and national news. Dr. Andrews, a professional sports orthopedic surgeon in Alabama (article in the NY TIMES Feb.23, 2005) states that, “he is sick of performing surgery on young children.” This past year, he performed elbow surgery on a particular 16 year old pitcher. This young athlete pitched 64 games in one summer. Scott Luna, Head Coach & President of the New Jersey Mariners Organization, claims both the coaches may not be aware of the other teams an athlete is playing on, and/or the parents and athletes do not inform accurately one’s pitching schedule. Coach Luna and his staff are well aware of the epidemic and have taken full charge to avoid the “epidemic” from infiltrating their organization. He feels many young athletes are being injured not only from playing too much, but from not being prepared to play. He has implemented a tight protocol for his organization to follow, which he feels will keep his athletes safe and healthy. He has implemented formal strength and conditioning by IFSI for his athletes prior to the season, and has all of his athletes follow proper warm-ups prior to play and/or practice.
Matt Attanasio, BS, CPT, PES of Infinity Fitness and Sports Institute, feels this is vitally important. He states that, “If the athlete is not properly prepared to play a game, he/she is risking a potential non-contact injury.” Coach Attilio and other Mariner coaches use a millisecond video to monitor the hitting and throwing mechanics of their players so they can spot potential problems in technique which may cause an athlete to become injured. Coach Paci of the Mariners claims that, “Using a pitch counter is a key component of accurate monitoring.” He feels that no pitcher at the little league level should throw over 60 pitches in a game. The league’s guidelines monitor the number of innings that the young athlete should play. Coach Paci uses a more conservative method of monitoring to assure the safety of his athletes. The Mariners Organization has taken every precaution in order to avoid the “over-use epidemic” and IFSI is proud to witness such an active role that they take. It is hoped that little league baseball around the country would follow the “big league” actions that the NJ Mariners Organization have taken to prevent injuries among their athletes.
April 10, 2005