KIDS & SPORTS: WHEN TO SEE A PHYSIO
It’s great to see more kids than ever involved in athletics and organized sports. But research shows us that sport is the main cause of injury in adolescents.
Active growing children will go through normal aches and growing pains. The pain usually only lasts a few days, they are in mild discomfort, and it doesn’t really inhibit their activity. Often rest or a few days off sport will help these cases.
But if children are experiencing the following symptoms…
Visit your physio or MD for diagnosis and treatment.
Pain that lasts over 4 days
Increasing sharp pains
Pain that gets worse with activity
Pain that stops participation
Limping or favouring the injury or body part
Not sleeping well
Redness or swelling around the area – or talk of numbness
Most common injuries in children are: ankle sprains, wrist sprains or fractures, sore backs from poor posture, scoliosis and knee pain.
Understanding kid’s physical abilities during different stages of their lives is the best way to help support them to stay active and safely develop their athletic abilities. It can also help parent’s understand and detect if their child may have physical restrictions or an injury that needs to be treated by a physiotherapist.
TIP TO REMEMBER: Early treatment results in less time away from sport, and generally less treatment.
PHYSICAL LITERACY
What is physical literacy? Physical literacy is when kids have developed the skills and confidence to be active in lots of different sports and physical activities.
These skills are developed through a variety of structured and unstructured activities. The activities will change and adapt as kids grow in age and ability.
0-3 years: Encourage early movement
3-5 years: Expand on play, and keep it fun
5-8 years: Increase the focus on fundamental movement skills
8-12 years: Introduce more complex skills as kids are ready
LTAD – Long Term Athletic Development
Children, youth and adults need to do the right things at the right time to develop in their sport or activity. Understanding the LTAD stages (Long-Term Athlete Development) can help define the level and skill set your child should display at different stages of their life.
Stage 1 – 0-6 years: Active Start
From ages 0-6 years, children need to take part in unstructured active play that incorporates a variety of body movements. It’s the ABC’s of movement – Agility, Balance, Coordination and Speed.
Stage 2- girls 6-8, boys 6-9
:
FUNdamentals
School age children need to participate in a variety of well-structured activities that develop basic skills. Focus is on fun with minimal competition.
Stage 3 – girls 8-11, boys 9-12
:
Learn to Train
Children at this age should be ready to begin training and learning general sports skills. Focus is on training and learning skills to a number of activities – not specializing on just one sport.
Stage 4 – girls 11-15, boys 12-16
:
Train to Train
At this stage athletes are ready to consolidate their sport specific skills and is a major fitness development stage. You may see special talents emerging, and they do their best in order to win. Focus should still be on training skills with winning the secondary emphasis.
Stage 5 – girls 15-21, boys 16-23: Train to Compete
Athletes enter this stage if they have chosen to specialize in one sport and excel at the highest level of competition possible. This is high-volume, high-intensity training. Nutrition, sport psychology, injury prevention and injury management become very important.
Stage 6 – girls 18+, boys 19+: Train to Win
Stage 7 – any age of participation: Active for Life
REFERENCES:
http://canadiansportforlife.ca
http://activeforlife.com
http://firstinphysio.com.au