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The Four Best Things You Can Do To Stay Injury-Free

college scholarship injuryPart of the Game

Injuries are not fun. But they are a prevalent part of sports and can have a profound impact on one’s ability to be recruited. An important aspect of being recruited is staying as injury-free as possible.
Coaches are less likely to recruit an athlete who is currently injured or who has suffered multiple injuries. This is because a coach is thinking about how long you will be able to play your sport in college and if your body will be able to take the increase in training and competition. Here are a few ways to prevent injuries from happening.

Eat Right

As minor as this tip may be it can be a major factor. Injuries sometimes happen because we aren’t taking proper care of our bodies with the food and drinks we ingest. Our bodies were built to handle balanced diets of fruits, grains, proteins, fats, and vegetables. Leaving out certain groupings means leaving parts of your body malnourished and susceptible to injury. Ingesting too much of one grouping can also cause harm to your body as well so work hard to maintain a proper balance.

Work Out and Stretch

Many athletes suffer injuries to parts of their bodies that proper strengthening and conditioning would have prevented. Working out and stretching can help prevent certain injuries from ever happening to you. Obviously working out will not prevent a broken bone from happening but it can decrease the possibility that you will suffer ligament damage such as a torn ACL or meniscus.

Brace Yourself

Although it might not be the cool thing to do, think about wearing a brace in known problem areas. When I played football I always wore ankle braces and in soccer, a knee brace. A brace is going to add needed support helping to prevent an injury from happening. I understand that sometimes they aren’t the most fashion forward of accessories but wearing one beats standing on the sideline and hurting your recruiting efforts.

Speak Up

Often athletes feel the need to push themselves for the greater good of the team or because their coach pushes them to perform; both are notable character traits but are foolish as well. Smaller injuries become larger injuries and this can hurt your recruiting or possibly end your career. If you feel something is off then get it checked out before continuing to play.

Female Athletes Beware

Did you know there’s been a 400% increase in knee injuries found in young females over the past decade? The Today Show’s Matt Lauer discussed this issue with Sports Medicine Physician Dr. Jordan Metzel during a live broadcast. The article “Teen athletes at high risk for knee injuries” was written by Linda Carroll. It is important to know as a young female you are 8 TIMES more likely to suffer a knee injury than a male athlete the same age which is why these tips are even more important for you!

If you have questions or comments about recruiting and injuries please use the comments section below or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

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