Verve Magazine - Teen Spirit
Are you worried about how much time your teenager spends watching tv, gaming consoles or scrolling through social media? Whilst getting your teenager in to sports might be a challenge, there are many advantages of getting them into sports.
Some of the reasons to encourage your teen into sports:
1. Builds confidence As your teen finds their feet, in a sport they enjoy, you will see their confidence bloom. Not only in their sport but that confidence will spread to other aspects of their life too.
2. Sportsmanship & teamwork Especially in team sports, working together towards a common goal, creates a sense of teamwork & sportsmanship. Your teen will learn to work together as a team or group, learning to respect each other, coaches and umpire. Sportsmanship is developed in playing against other teams, as fair play is a must in sports.
3. Making friends Sports are a great way to encourage friendships, especially as they clearly already have a mutual interest. If your teen is particularly shy or introvert, playing sports can be a good way to ‘bring them out of their shell’ and make friendships with others.
4. Time management Something a lot of teenagers struggle with, time management. Sports help develop teens ability (and yours) with time management, by set practice and game times. This is especially evident in a team sport, where a game can not start until all the players are present. This is a life skill that will aid their future careers as adults.
5. A great outlet for teens Does your teenager, especially teen boys suffer from anger control issues? With their hormones all over the show, social pressure & life situations, anger issues can arise. Sports can be a great way to burn off steam and vent any anger in a safe environment.
Here are some hot tips for your teens to survive the upcoming winter sports season
Rest It is important not to over do it. Osteopaths often see injuries when teenagers push themselves that little bit too far or do not rest when advised to. When you have an injury, it is important to take a break. If your health professional has told you, to take a break, for however long it is, it is in your best interests to do so. Push through can lead to further damage and resulting in much longer time away from their sport.
Stretch Help avoid those injuries and niggly pains by stretching. Your level of sport and frequency, will determine how often you stretch. When stretching remember the stretch should feel like ‘good pain’, and not ‘bad pain’ associated with over stretching. For advice on stretching and the specific stretches or exercises you need to do, speak to an osteopath to guide your teen in the right direction. Preventing injuries is the goal for osteopaths.
Address those injuries Osteopaths commonly treat teenagers during sports seasons for a range of injuries. Treatment is always most effective when the injury is acute, as there are few compensations else where in the body.
Eat well Support their physical exercise with a well balanced diet. Although you made need a second mortgage to keep up with your teens volume of eating. Whether your teen is a boy or girl, keep nutrition in mind. Are they eating a ‘rainbow of vegetables’, plenty of protein and good fats? If you are worried about their diet, speak to your local nutritionist.
Drink up Many of us, even as adults do not drink enough water. I mean water, not juice, soft drink, tea, coffee, plain and simple water. It is important especially on game days to keep your teens fluids up.