Offseason Training Tips for Overhead Athletes
Baseball, softball, lacrosse, football, volleyball and tennis players all use overhead throwing in their sports. These athletes require power and strength for overhead positions in their dominant extremity.
With many sports currently on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a great time for athletes to consider cross-training. It has been shown to be beneficial for overhead athletes to participate in more than one sport due to the benefits of cross training. However, many young athletes are specializing in one sport for more than nine months of the year. In order to reduce the risk of injury from repetitive motions, such as overhead throwing, athletes should incorporate cross training into their routines.
Best Exercises for Tennis Players
Injury risk is a reality of any sport, and tennis is no different. More than 41 percent of elite tennis players lose time from play and practice due to injuries related to the sport. Adolescent tennis players are at greater risk of injury when there has been a previous injury sustained.5,6 Overall, two-thirds of tennis injuries are caused by overuse.
5 Common Mistakes Made by Overhead Athletes
It’s baseball and softball season and that means three things to me as an athletic trainer: hot dogs, bleachers and shoulder pain. While all three of those cause discomfort in their own way, I find shoulder pain to be the most pertinent to be addressed by my skill set. I’ve found that a majority of shoulder pain stems from a few of the following avoidable mistakes made by overhead athletes. (more…)
