Why Does My Child Continually Injure Himself While Playing Sports?
Playing and doing sports is very important for the development of children. However, if you have asked yourself: “Why does my son continually injure himself while playing sports?”, In this article we can guide you. The reasons why your child may suffer constant injuries can vary depending on some particular factors of each child.
Reasons why injuries occur
Here are the triggers that can cause your child to suffer injuries while participating in a sports activity.
1.- Too much physical demand
One of the things that we must understand well as parents is that children are totally different from us. This is both in your physical, mental, physiological constitution, as in all other aspects.
Often times, sports children are too demanding for their age. Your muscles and bones may not be strong enough to handle this physical and mental stress, which can lead to different types of injuries.
2.- Between 5 and 11 years of age: weak muscles
At this stage of their life, children have weaker muscles, with good flexibility and poor ability to concentrate. It is appropriate for children to take up sports, but above all play must prevail. On the contrary, it is not wise to set up exercise routines that may demand too much from the little one.
They should never be pressured into participating in one activity or another, but should find it fun to participate. If the child is bored, they will have less concentration and disposition, and that increases the risk of injury.
3.- Between 11 and 15 years old: understand that the important thing is not to win
This is the age at which puberty occurs and a sudden growth spurt occurs. During this period, aerobic capacity increases considerably and the volume of oxygen administered by young people increases. In addition, they gain endurance and muscular strength.
With regard to flexibility, it is not very clear if a loss occurs during this phase of rapid growth or if this does not occur. Everything will depend on the particular case of each individual.
This is the point at which you should start in competitive activities, but always downplaying the importance of winning or losing. All you have to do is learn that every activity has a purpose and a purpose and that there are certain rules and regulations that must be followed.
On the other hand, the young person must also know the importance of teamwork in the sports that deserve it and the respect and consideration that they must have towards the opponents.
3.- Above 15 years: harder workouts
This is the phase where growth will end and muscle development will be completed. Here, the youngster can begin to engage in specialized sports and increase the rigors of training, without as many injuries occurring as before.
The role of fathers and mothers
It is up to parents to be careful that their children do not take unnecessary risks. In a world as competitive as the one we live in, we could fall into the error of thinking that the sooner our child starts playing a sport, the more his chances of being an elite professional will increase.
However, this is far from the truth. The optimal development of children to play sports begins to be seen in the late teens. First, we must ensure that they have fun and learn from sport what is really important: that it will help them to be functional human beings.
Sport teaches children and young people the importance of teamwork, trusting other people, defending themselves and resolving their differences, following established rules and regulations, and striving to achieve results, among other things.
These values and learnings are fundamental and necessary for their emotional and psychological development. It is about something much more important at this stage of life than mere physical development.
So if you have stopped to think ‘my son is continually injured while playing sports’, you can ask yourself if perhaps he is being asked too much for his age. Pay attention: a serious injury during your growing years can affect your entire life.
In fact, you may never fully recover and may not be able to play the sport you want in the future. This is a very important aspect in the development of children.
So let’s get to work; make sure your child plays sports in the right way, to have fun and learn the necessary values. Later you will have time to practice in a specialized way and become a professional, if it is your true desire to achieve it.
