How to Help Your Young Athlete Recover from a Sports Injury

Reading Time: 6 minutes

So your athlete has an injury

Your first instinct is the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate), but this is more serious. A doctor’s visit reveals the disappointing diagnosis: a complete break from sports to heal. With an estimated 8.6 million sports and recreation-related injuries happening every year (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), injuries can be a common occurrence for sports parents.

Many have said you don’t know how strong you are as an athlete until you get injured. During an injury, you experience the physical and mental challenges you must overcome to recover and return.

Some athletes are so excited to restart at the same levels of competitive play as when they paused, but unfortunately without the weeks/months of consistent training to maintain their fitness, flexibility and strength levels. Young athletes go through crucial developmental growth spurts as well that can create an added layer for injury risk as young athletes’ bodies are responding on multiple fronts.

Create a Plan

Our family experienced the recovery process first hand after sports related injuries sidelined our two young athletes in recent years. We learned that being supportive and encouraging parents through that process also required a strong mindset and EQ on our part to help them navigate the months to follow through their healing and physical therapy.

“The 4 R’s plan” is a phased approach we thought of for pacing our kids during their recovery. We wanted to modulate the intensity of activity levels as our children returned to competing. Our household is a cautious one when we resume sports/training post injury, and even after an extended break between seasons. We consulted with our doctor, our family’s physical therapist and coaches as we built our plan. The 4 R’s evolved from our family’s experiences with different sports related injuries and the weeks/months it took to get back to the sports they love.

The 4 R’s

While these R’s reflect the best practices that we found worked for our athletes’ needs, each family needs to create their own plan. Parents need to consult with professionals, doctors and coaches to identify exactly what steps are best for their athlete’s recovery, restrengthening and return to competing.

RECOVER

One of the best measures of mental strength is recovery time. – Susan Hobson

The recovery window can be the most frustrating time period for an athlete because they have no control except to rest and enable the healing. We can’t rush a muscle strain to heal faster or will a broken bone to knit quicker than time (and a cast) will allow. Additionally, athletes are handling the emotions of having their sports season sidelined or ended without warning. Doctors and physical therapists will share steps to enable recovery, but an athlete’s mental strength is key. Give them the space to emotionally process the abrupt stop to their playing. They may feel angry, frustrated and discouraged. Encourage their growth mindset to weather this sports hurdle and focus on the healing time as part of the journey to getting back out there – whether it’s the field, track, pool, court or mat. This is also a great time to introduce meditation and positive self talk to help athletes reframe a negative experience into something they can learn and grow from.

RESTART

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden

The cast is off or the strained muscle tenderness has subsided and your athlete is cleared to return to some level of physical activity. Create realistic expectations for how fast they can return to playing. Develop conditioning routines that support a basic level of fitness and then build to an elevated level of training and activities. Rushing back can do more harm than good. Your athlete has to remember that they won’t be at their peak performance level before their injury right away. With doctor and PT approvals, gradually level up over time to expand their fitness base to increase endurance and stamina. Avoid launching into an intensive practice or training regiment too soon. An injured athlete’s body won’t be ready for aggressive workouts due to weeks/months of inactivity.

We found a great transition tool during our “Restart” phase was the strengthening and stretching exercises that our PT provided. Beyond the healing window, we continued to use the exercises that reinforced the muscle strength and mobility development of relevant muscle groups around the injured area long after the recovery was past them.

As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention…” so we introduced regular use of tools like foam rolling/stretches into their weekly post workouts as a “Pre-hab” tactic to stay ahead of injuries or avoid re-injuring muscles. We also remained mindful of overuse issues of the “good side” that can arise through the recover and restart phases. It’s easy to overuse another muscle (like their good leg or their good arm) to compensate when something is injured.

REBUILD

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. -Proverb

Rebuilding takes time. Help athletes draw from a strong foundation that still exists even if it was on pause for a few months. Draft focused goals with your athlete identifying what they want to accomplish and where they see their progress headed. Goal setting is a strategic step in resetting when returning after an injury or starting a new season. Try using the S.M.A.R.T. goals model. Consider watching film of their last season or before their injury as a reminder of the success and effective play that they accomplished not long ago.

Help your athlete cultivate mental strength for a confident mindset. Share inspirational articles and quotes to inspire your athlete. Challenge them to find what connects with them and has an impact on their mindset. This is also a time when mindfulness and meditation can be beneficial to both parents and athletes.

RETURN

Success is not a destination, it’s a journey. -Zig Ziglar

One of the key aspects of the journey is PATIENCE. To return fully, strong and healthy is the ultimate goal; however, getting back to a level of fitness and mastery of sports skills takes time. It won’t happen after one workout, one practice or one tournament. Athletes will need to respect the time and determination required to return to their previous abilities. Parents will need to be patient and supportive as their athletes are in the final stretch of recovering. Missed shots, decreased speed and diminished agility may all be part of the return, but those effects of a sports break will be temporary. Our kids are not machines. Perception of this return as a gradual progression will be valuable for parents and athletes. Use mindset and mental strength self talk with athletes to help them understand the journey of returning to their previous skill levels may be longer than they expect.

As they return, remind athletes to be aware of when they are pushing themselves too much too soon. It’s a marathon not a sprint, and athletes will need to listen carefully to their bodies for fatigue, in particular in the injured areas, as they come back. Noted by William Roberts, MD, sports medicine physician at the University of Minnesota, “Muscle fatigue takes away all your protective mechanisms and really increases your risk of all injuries.”

The Bonus “R”: RESILIENCE

Resilience is what helps us keep on a relatively even keel when the waves come. And if we get knocked over, it helps us recover. – Dr. Rick Hanson

A fifth and very important “R” in this whole equation is RESILIENCE. Resilience is key through the entire process. Now even more than before, our athletes and our families need to build their mental and emotional resilience just as much as their physical fitness. Use an injury as an opportunity to teach your child about the value of resilience and overcoming obstacles.

Dr. Rick Hanson describes resilience as consisting of “psychological strengths like grit, compassion, gratitude, emotional intelligence and agility.“ Those are all characteristics we want to encourage and grow in ourselves and our children beyond the stressful time an injury creates. Our bodies are resilient. With rest and time, healing will happen. At the same time, a resilient mindset will enable that physical healing to go further and provide mental strength for our children to learn from the experience.

Nothing contained in this article is intended to be used for medical treatment or a diagnosis.The information contained in this article is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, a diagnosis or treatment. It is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers before starting any new treatment or discontinuing an existing treatment.

– Danielle Mintz, Founder Player EQ