Youth Sports Injuries: A Medical Handbook for Parents and Coaches

By John F. Duff

More than 20 million children between the ages of four and nineteen participate in organized sports in the U.S. today. That's a lot of sprains, spills, bumps, and strains. Dr. John Duff, an expert in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0020136919
• ISBN13: 9780020136910
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Collier Books
• Length: 366 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

REQUIRED READING for parents of young athletes.

"I firmly believe that if you and parents like you know what sports medical experts know, the whole sports injury picture would improve dramatically overnight." Dr. Duff is a practicing orthopedic surgeon with more than thirty years of experience in treating sports injuries. In his view, sports are not even close to being as safe as they should be, primarily because those involved do not know what they need to do, or even how to find out what they need to be doing. Another example of Duffs realism: "In most sports, coaches are the key to injury prevention. However, we can't assume that today's coaches know all the answers to preventing injuries or even that they are actively pursuing that goal. The top priority of some coaches is to win at all costs - and the costs can be unnecessary, serious injuries." In the course of his book, Duff spells out specific plans through which parents can find out what their coaches and governing bodies should be doing and how to ensure that those things get done. Simple, straightforward plans requiring little more than commitment. Youth Sports Injuries is an attempt at the definitive, all-inclusive guide for parents of active children, and a very impressive attempt it is. Throughout the book, Duff stresses again and again how a little time spent by the parent in studying for his or her role as guardian of the young athlete's career can and will prevent most of the problems that are associated with youth sports. Particularly injuries. Backing up his assertion that parents and athletes can easily grasp the sports physician's perspective, the entire second half of the book is an illustrated reference guide to sports injuries, their causes, preventions and treatments, followed by glossaries of medical terms and even sports jargon. But Duff does not limit himself to purely medical advice. He delves deep into the parent/athlete relationship, warning strongly against over-involvement. "Remember that your child is an individual, not an extension of yourself," he says, referring to the tendency of the ambitious parent to project his or her fantasies onto the child athlete. Duff also covers the parent/physician relationship quite thoroughly, giving tips on what to expect from your doctor as well as what your doctor expects from you. Youth Sports Injuries is a highly informative and conscientious piece of work from which any parent can learn a great deal. However, its weak point is ironically the very thing that makes it so accessible to such a wide audience: it is, by necessity, too general to provide detailed instruction for specific sports. For instance, although Duff says that "the injury risk for young gymnasts is one of the highest in sports," he is unable to devote much space to the specific needs of gymnasts. The problem of eating disorders, for example, which ferociously plagues competitive gymnasts, is touched on so briefly that inexperienced parents might be mistakenly believe that eating disorders