Anonymous
02/26/2025 06:41
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:DD is a competitive tennis player who has played many sports growing up, but has finally decided to focus on tennis. She loves to get on court and play and I've never had to push her to play. I am aware of the overuse injuries that can happen when one plays a sport intensely year round. The problem is that she always tries to get out of her fitness and strength training sessions at the club, and getting her to do the injury prevention exercises at home that the physical therapist prescribed is like pulling teeth.
She'll never do them on her own and it's a draining for me to keep reminding her to do them.
Has anyone else gone through this where their child loves their sport but doesn't want to do the "sports adjacent" stuff? Do you give a child an ultimatum in that case? It's only a matter of time until she gets an injury otherwise.
Obviously, she doesn't have what it takes. Let it go.
+1
Anonymous
02/26/2025 05:42
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
Who knows the level of this kid? Don’t push
Anonymous
02/26/2025 01:32
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
My DD was an amazing athlete in her sport, but as she got older and it required weight training and gym time, she lost interest. Her old teammates are now playing D1 while she is living her best life at college doing what makes her happy. Would I have liked her to pursue her sport, yes. But at a certain point, you need to let your kid decide who they are and what makes them happy.
Anonymous
02/26/2025 00:13
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
Anonymous wrote:DD is a competitive tennis player who has played many sports growing up, but has finally decided to focus on tennis. She loves to get on court and play and I've never had to push her to play. I am aware of the overuse injuries that can happen when one plays a sport intensely year round. The problem is that she always tries to get out of her fitness and strength training sessions at the club, and getting her to do the injury prevention exercises at home that the physical therapist prescribed is like pulling teeth.
She'll never do them on her own and it's a draining for me to keep reminding her to do them.
Has anyone else gone through this where their child loves their sport but doesn't want to do the "sports adjacent" stuff? Do you give a child an ultimatum in that case? It's only a matter of time until she gets an injury otherwise.
Obviously, she doesn't have what it takes. Let it go.
Anonymous
02/25/2025 23:49
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
My kid trains at JTCC, and the fitness/strength training is part of the training. At first, having those sessions was like pulling teeth, but there is something about doing fitness with your friends that makes it easier. Also, once the first injury happened, it became very clear that strength training and stretching were a must.
Anonymous
02/25/2025 21:28
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
She is telling you she wants to be a 13 year old kid. I have 3 kids, one elite level athlete by his choice to make sacrifices and 2 kids that love sports and also love the ancillary parts of being teens. They all set their own tempo, my only rule is honor any commitments you make for the season.
Anonymous
02/25/2025 20:11
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
Depends how much she is playing a week if it leads to overuse
Anonymous
02/25/2025 20:02
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
Does she have any peer role models who do strength and conditioning that would help motivate her?
Otherwise, you’re right. She is likely to get injured and not be able to play and that will care of that. Your Q then is whether you do any intensive PT to get her back in the game or do you just have her drop it because she won’t do anything to prevent injury and you’re not willing to spend more on PT.
Otherwise, you’re right. She is likely to get injured and not be able to play and that will care of that. Your Q then is whether you do any intensive PT to get her back in the game or do you just have her drop it because she won’t do anything to prevent injury and you’re not willing to spend more on PT.
Anonymous
02/25/2025 19:31
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
Teenagers listen to coaches more than parents. And sometimes (unfortunately) it takes something like not making a team or getting injured to drive home the training message. I’d continue to encourage her to do the extras that she needs to do but hates and say “this is part of the package”. I’d also sit her down and ask her what her goals are with the sport—college? Her goals will help shape the conversation and path forward.
Anonymous
02/25/2025 19:13
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
Anonymous wrote:What is her level and why yoy forcing her to play year round?
Op here. Who’s forcing her? I clearly said I’ve never had to push her to play tennis. She loves the game. That’s what she chose after playing multiple sports growing up. It’s the fitness/ strength and conditioning that she doesn’t like .
Anonymous
02/25/2025 17:41
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
What is her level and why yoy forcing her to play year round?
Anonymous
02/25/2025 17:20
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
If she’s not aiming to be an elite tennis player, maybe just cut down on the tennis and pick up another sport. I don’t think tennis is a big injury risk for a kid unless you’re playing a ton.
Anonymous
02/25/2025 17:18
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
We finally got our DD to attend the workouts without complaining. We’re not confident that she will ever do these workouts on her own.
Anonymous
02/25/2025 17:09
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
Yes and we've come to accept the fact that our DD won't play at an elite level without accepting those necessities, especially the injury prevention exercises, and this is in the wake of getting PT that successfully addressed one of her recurring injuries. That doesn't mean she will quit her sports -- her love for them is at a peak right now and she she is getting better at them season by season. I wish I knew what the answer was, but at some point they have to be self motivated, especially if they want to remain at a competitive level and strive for an elite level.
Anonymous
02/25/2025 10:09
Subject: DD, 13, loves her sport but hates fitness/strength training/ injury prevention exercises
DD is a competitive tennis player who has played many sports growing up, but has finally decided to focus on tennis. She loves to get on court and play and I've never had to push her to play. I am aware of the overuse injuries that can happen when one plays a sport intensely year round. The problem is that she always tries to get out of her fitness and strength training sessions at the club, and getting her to do the injury prevention exercises at home that the physical therapist prescribed is like pulling teeth.
She'll never do them on her own and it's a draining for me to keep reminding her to do them.
Has anyone else gone through this where their child loves their sport but doesn't want to do the "sports adjacent" stuff? Do you give a child an ultimatum in that case? It's only a matter of time until she gets an injury otherwise.
She'll never do them on her own and it's a draining for me to keep reminding her to do them.
Has anyone else gone through this where their child loves their sport but doesn't want to do the "sports adjacent" stuff? Do you give a child an ultimatum in that case? It's only a matter of time until she gets an injury otherwise.