With young athletes, watching for proper form in any movement is critical at this stage.  The habits that develop in high school and college sports will be the results of what is done in elementary and middle school.  Knowing this, follow these guidelines when it comes to any sporting event:

·         TECHNIQUE….THEN RESULTS – Young athletes will get in a habit of doing things the easy way because they get results.  Lifting weights they will wiggle their bodies to lift a little extra weight, baseball they will slap at the ball to make contact more often, and even basketball shooting techniques that involve hurling the ball as opposed to shooting.  Form first!  Results will come with time but doing things the right way is the long term answer. 

·         GOOD FORM = LESS INJURIES – Throwing a baseball with all arm may give you the speed at age 9 but will break the arm by the beginning of high school.  Paying particular attention to all the components of throwing, shooting, running, jumping, etc. may be boring at times but doing things the way the body is designed reduces risk of injury. 

·         IT’S WORTH THE FIGHT – I played youth sports, I know at that time I knew everything!  That is perception…the reality is the bad habits I developed at a young age carried over, even into college.  As a parent, if you are going to stand some ground as something to pay attention to…this is it!  The right way gets better results, reduces risk of injury, and allows for greater opportunities for the extraordinary to happen.