I recently had a young patient who was complaining of groin pain. As a hockey goalie, he was finding this injury a bit limiting in his ability to perform. Upon assessment we found out that his injury was not caused by an acute event, but more because of the muscle imbalances he had.

This young lad does weight training during his lunch hours, I love the initiative but without the proper guidance he is doing more harm than good. A few days of stretching and some treatment has gotten him back on the ice, and we will be addressing his program.

Our young athletes are inundated with thoughts of having to be bigger, faster and stronger. What we don't realize is that they do not always know where to go to find out the right vs wrong way to do this or who the right people are to listen to. In this day and age of everything at our fingertips, they quickly look up programs on their Smart phones not knowing proper technique or what is appropriate for their age or activity.

We expect many things from our young elite athletes and try to instill lots of wisdom and knowledge that will help them succeed, one of the things we are missing teaching them is how to do what is best for their body. We need to teach them that doing the training their professional counter parts do minght not be appropriate developmentally for them. Also that finding something on the internet does not mean it's right for them or right at all.

Youth sports are not just about athletic excellence but also preparing them for life.