Here is an interesting article about intensive sports training and injury:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130419132508.htm
There is a concern about overspecialization in young children. Children should do multiple sports, not just one sport. And the amount of training time in hours per week should not exceed the child's age. For example, a ten year old should not practice more than 10 hours per week. A 15 year old should not practice more than 15 hours per week.
Interestingly, it is supervised, coached practice that is more linked to overuse injuries, while unsupervised free play is actually protective. In other words, children should play sports on their own for significant periods of time, not just in coached supervised settings.
This may be counter-intuitive. You would think that having an adult coach supervising would keep the practices safer. Kids left to their own devices might tend to get out of control or do crazy things. But doing more unsupervised practice actually helps prevent overuse injuries.
And sport specialization increases the odds of getting injured. If you do multiple sports, you use different muscles, so your body is more balanced and one set of muscles can recover while you use the muscles for a different sport.
There is a trend towards early specialization in sports. But the research does not support this trend. Better to have kids do multiple sports than just concentrate on one sport. A more varied athletic background will pay off in the long term.
Here is the link to the article about overuse injuries in children:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130419132508.htm
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