Avoiding Youth Sports Burnout: Why Kids Need Performance Training 

Far too many young athletes in America are overplaying their sport while undertraining – setting themselves up for burnout, injury, and stunted athletic development. The traditional approach of piling on more game reps and tournaments is misguided. What kids need is more well-rounded athletic training, especially strength and conditioning work and speed and agility fundamentals. “We see a lot of worn down athletes coming from elite travel programs,” said Mike Tollefson, head strength coach at Arizona State University. “They’ve been over-specialized in their sport from a very young age without any emphasis on overall athleticism and physical preparedness.” The intense singularity of playing one sport year-round inevitably leads to overuse injuries and burnout before kids even get to college. According to a study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, kids who played the same sport for more than 8 months per year were more likely to have serious overuse injuries. “It’s extremely rare for me to get a freshman who hasn’t already had some sort of overuse injury in their joints or thrown out their back or shoulders from overtraining,” said Jill Miller, head softball coach at Cal Poly. “I need my athletes to be sturdy and resilient, not broken down before they’ve even started.” The better approach is to cap hours spent playing the sport each week and use that free time for strength training, mobility, skills work, and active recovery. Getting strong through lifting weights or corrective exercises allows kids to move better, run faster, jump higher, and throw harder – directly translating to better sports performance. “The kids who come in with a foundation of functional strength and muscle are the ones who stay healthy and progress the fastest,” said James Bolton, strength coach at Stanford. “There’s no substitute for getting your muscles prepped through basic strength work from an early age.” Many top coaches are now prioritizing strength training over excessive skill camps or weekend tournaments once kids hit the puberty age range of 11-14 years old. “I want my players in the weight room just as much as the batting cages once they’re physically mature enough to start strength training,” said Rhonda Revelle, head coach of the powerhouse University of Nebraska softball program. “Getting them strong translates directly to hitting dingers!” Rather than pushing young athletes into a singular obsession, the smartest approach is providing a diverse, well-rounded athletic foundation of strength, mobility, skills, and conditioning. This holistic approach keeps kids healthier, more motivated, and better prepared to handle the rigors of the next level. Don’t let your child become another sad overuse injury statistic – get them performance training!