DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises

[Anonymous]

I played several sports at a very competitive level (competing frequently against national & state champions) and never engaged in strength training or in injury prevention exercises. I just didn't need too.

Some athletes are injury prone due to tight muscles. Has your daughter suffered any injuries related to tennis or to any other sport ? If not, let her play & practice as she likes.

I know of many athletes who do the injury prevention exercises, yet still suffer multiple and repeated injuries; it's just how their body is built.

[Anonymous]

I have two teen competitive tennis players, 13 and 15. They are pretty good and play about 4-6 days per week. But they also don’t like to work out or do conditioning beyond tennis practice. I don’t think they play enough for serious injury risk. I try to encourage them to work out more, especially on weeks when tennis schedule is light, but they just aren’t interested. It’s fine, I leave it up to them.

[Anonymous]

Really depends how good the kid is if this is even an important question

[Anonymous]

Former D-1 athlete here: few athletes love that part of the sport and that's okay. Very few adults who get injured and go to PT, follow through on their exercises. Conditioning sucks. Stretching and core work, etc. is boring. Especially compared to actually playing the sport.

Your DD is completely normal. Unless HER goal (not yours) is for her to try to get a tennis scholarship (or more), give gentle reminders but don't let it be exhausting for you or her. If HER goal is to go further, you can consider discussing it with her coach, but you'll have to consider whether that may harm the coach's opinion of DD. I played team sports so I don't know how a tennis coach will respond.

Regardless, reaching elite levels require a natural level of talent, genetics, and drive and you may need to accept that she may not have that drive (and that's normal, acceptable, and healthy). If she develops the drive, she'll eventually do the sports-adjacent stuff on her own.

[Anonymous]

OP Here. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond!
Very helpful insight!

[Anonymous]

You’re welcome fool

[Anonymous]

Yes. My DD loved her sport. She chose a college bc she wanted to walk on there. However she battles injuries all senior year and would never do the PT outside of the PT visits. Nor would she do the extra training.

So she went to her D1 school and tried out. It lasted 8 weeks. She made it through the first two cuts, but by the time they got to the Final Cut, she had multiple injuries, wasn’t doing the work needed to fix them, complaining constantly, and not giving anywhere close to 100% at practice. And because she was half-as!?sing it, she was losing confidence and resilience. So she got cut. It was brutal. Lost all the friends she had made.

All that said, I saw it coming. Sadly. When she wasn’t first string senior year, and did nothing over the summer to help herself, I knew it would end badly.

It was AWFUL watching this as a parent, but I am hoping she will grow from it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. My DD loved her sport. She chose a college bc she wanted to walk on there. However she battles injuries all senior year and would never do the PT outside of the PT visits. Nor would she do the extra training.

So she went to her D1 school and tried out. It lasted 8 weeks. She made it through the first two cuts, but by the time they got to the Final Cut, she had multiple injuries, wasn’t doing the work needed to fix them, complaining constantly, and not giving anywhere close to 100% at practice. And because she was half-as!?sing it, she was losing confidence and resilience. So she got cut. It was brutal. Lost all the friends she had made.

All that said, I saw it coming. Sadly. When she wasn’t first string senior year, and did nothing over the summer to help herself, I knew it would end badly.

It was AWFUL watching this as a parent, but I am hoping she will grow from it.

I am the poster above. To answer your question - don’t nag or remind her. That motivation or drive must come from within. Be supportive but not a nag. It will only make things worse in the end. Mine gets upset because she thinks I am thinking “I told you so.” Which I have never said of course.