Is your young athlete overtraining? What parents need to know about overuse and burnout.
A recent 2024 article from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revealed a striking statistic: 70% of 13-year-olds who once played organized sports have stopped participating. Among the top reasons? Injury and burnout.
This is concerning for many reasons. Sports offer kids and teens enormous physical, mental, and social benefits. Yet, participation continues to drop while 75% of U.S. adolescents fail to meet the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day (ages 6–17). These numbers highlight the need to teach kids a positive relationship with movement, one that encourages health, wellness, and lifelong fitness.
What causes burnout in youth athletes
Burnout often stems from overtraining and can lead to both physical and mental exhaustion, jeopardizing the health and wellbeing of youth athletes.
To prevent this, adequate rest/recovery time is critical. The AAP recommends 1–2 days of rest per week and 2–3 months off each year from sport-specific activity.
High-level competition can place pressure on young athletes from coaches, parents, peers, and even themselves. But more is not always better. Without adequate recovery, tissues can’t adapt properly, which increases the risk of injury instead of improving performance.
Recovery is training, too. This downtime is an opportunity to prioritize sleep, hydration, and nutrition, all of which play key roles in athletic health and injury prevention during and outside of the chosen sports’ seasons.
What are the warning signs of overtraining in youth athletes?
Fatigue is what happens when the body is pushed beyond its capacity through exertion or because of weakness. This typically results in submaximal movement patterns — what coaches call ‘bad form’ — inability to produce optimal performance such as reduced speed with throwing or running, and can lead to pain. Tendons are areas of the body that often feel this overloading and can become inflamed and painful, particularly when not warmed up properly or when being pushed beyond the amount of activity they can handle.
Three specific things parents and coaches should watch for:
Soreness that lingers beyond 24–48 hours
Soreness that lasts longer than 24–48 hours can be indicative of tissue being worked beyond an appropriate amount. If a young athlete is speaking to pain or soreness that does not resolve in a reasonable amount of time, the tissue is likely to stay irritable with repetitive loading.
Changes in form or movement patterns
We do not all have to be experts in movement patterns, but if a coach or parent sees a movement pattern or skill that seems off, this could be a sign of compensation that might result in pain or weakness. When athletes deviate from proper form, they can hurt other tissue or continue tendinous overloading that makes the problem worse.
Performance that’s declining despite continued effort
When a young athlete is working hard but getting slower, weaker, or less accurate, that’s the body signaling it hasn’t had enough time to adapt. More training isn’t always the answer. Recovery is.
Physical therapists are well-positioned to identify these clues early when muscle, tendon, or bone is being overworked, before they become injuries that pull a young athlete out of the sport they love.
How much training is too much for a young athlete?
When young athletes transition into a new sport or season, gradually increasing training load is critical.
One helpful tool is the Acute to Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR), a way to understand whether a young athlete’s recent activity level is appropriate compared to what their body has been used to doing. It’s used in sports medicine to help reduce injury risk, especially in growing athletes.
Think of it as: what you did this week vs. what your body is used to
- Acute workload = how much activity the athlete did this week
- Chronic workload = the average amount of activity over the past 3 – 4 weeks
The ratio is simply: this week’s workload divided by what their body has been used to recently
A real example a parent can picture
Say a softball player typically practices and plays about 6 hours per week over the past month. Then one week she does two practices, four tournament games, and extra hitting lessons — totaling 12 hours.
The ratio: 12 ÷ 6 = 2.0. Her workload doubled compared to what her body was prepared for.
Why that matters
Young athletes tend to get injured when their workload spikes too quickly. Muscles, tendons, and growth plates all need time to adapt. When the jump is too big, the body hasn’t had time to build tolerance. This is when we start seeing shoulder pain in throwers, knee pain, stress injuries, and overuse injuries.
The safe zone
Research suggests athletes tend to stay healthier when their weekly workload stays close to what they’ve been doing — generally a ratio between 0.8 and 1.3:
Chronic Average | This Week | Ratio | Meaning |
6 hrs | 5 hrs | 0.8 | Slightly less — OK |
6 hrs | 7 hrs | 1.17 | Safe increase |
6 hrs | 10 hrs | 1.67 | Spike — higher injury risk |
A simple takeaway for parents: kids get hurt less when their activity builds gradually. If a young athlete suddenly does far more in one week than they’ve been used to over the past month, their injury risk goes up significantly.
When are youth athletes most at risk for workload spikes?
Common workload spikes happen during:
- Tournaments
- Tryout season
- Jumping from school season to travel ball
- Adding pitching or private lessons suddenly
Tracking total throwing, practices, games, and conditioning can help coaches and families manage load before it becomes a problem.
A good rule of thumb: increase training volume gradually, by about 10–20% per week. This helps balance fitness gains with proper recovery and keeps young athletes healthy.
Does playing one sport year-round increase injury risk?
Early sport specialization is one of the most significant contributors to overuse injuries in young athletes. When kids focus on a single sport year-round without meaningful breaks, the same muscles, tendons, and growth plates absorb repetitive stress without variation or adequate recovery time.
I’ve written more on this in why training an athlete matters more than developing a sport-specific star — including the injury risks and how multi-sport participation protects long-term development.
When should you see a physical therapist for youth sports injuries?
Physical therapists are uniquely trained to help young athletes prevent overuse injuries, recover safely, and learn proper training techniques.
Whether your child is:
- Recovering from an overuse injury
- Looking to prevent injury in their sport
- Struggling with training demands or burnout
… a physical therapist can provide individualized guidance. Our goal is to keep kids active, healthy, and enjoying sports safely, thereby building a foundation for lifelong fitness and confidence.
When a parent brings a young athlete in, our physical therapists start by listening. Understanding the athlete’s sport, training schedule, when symptoms started, and what makes them better or worse gives us the full picture. From there, we do a thorough movement assessment, watching how they run, jump, land, or perform sport-specific movements, to identify where the body is compensating or absorbing stress unevenly.
From that assessment, we build a plan. For athletes dealing with overuse, this usually involves modifying load rather than stopping activity entirely. Most kids can stay in their sport in some capacity while we address the underlying issue. For athletes who aren’t injured yet, a proactive movement screening can identify imbalances or mechanics that put them at risk before a problem develops.
Return-to-sport planning is another key part of what we do. Rather than guessing when it’s safe to go back to full activity, we use objective benchmarks including strength, movement quality, and pain-free range of motion to guide that decision and communicate with coaches when appropriate.
Common Questions from Parents of Youth Athletes
How do I know if my child is overtraining?
Watch for soreness that doesn’t resolve within 48 hours, declining performance despite more effort, and mood changes or reluctance around practice. If you’re noticing two or more of these consistently over a couple of weeks, it’s worth paying attention.
What is the acute to chronic workload ratio and why does it matter for my child?
It’s a simple way to measure whether this week’s training load is appropriate relative to what your child’s body is used to handling. A ratio above 1.5 means workload has spiked significantly, which is when injury risk climbs.
How much rest does a young athlete actually need?
The AAP recommends at least 1-2 full rest days per week and 2-3 months off per year from their primary sport. Rest is when tissues repair and grow stronger, not lost training time.
Is it okay for my child to play one sport year-round?
The AAP recommends against early single-sport specialization. Playing one sport year-round without meaningful breaks means the same muscles, tendons, and growth plates absorb repetitive stress without variation, which is one of the most consistent drivers of overuse injury.
When should I take my child to a physical therapist?
Don’t wait for a serious injury. Recurring pain, movement changes, or persistent fatigue around sport are all worth a PT visit, and in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho you don’t need a doctor’s referral.
Can physical therapy help prevent youth sports injuries before they happen?
Yes, and it’s one of the most underused tools available. A pre-participation movement screen can identify imbalances and mechanics that raise injury risk before your child ever feels pain.
References
- Brenner, J., Watson, A., & Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness (2024). Overuse Injuries, Overtraining, and Burnout in Youth Athletes. American Academy of Pediatrics, 153(2). http://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-pdf/153/2/e2023065129
- Zouhal, H. Boullosa, D., Ramirez-Campillo, R., Ali, A., & Granacher, U (2021). Acute/Chronic Workload Ratio: Is There Scientific Evidence? Frontiers in Physiology, 12 (669687).
Keeping kids in the game!
If you or your child have pain preventing you from excelling at a favorite sport or activity, or you’re interested in a pre-participation assessment and personalized training program, your local Therapeutic Associates Physical Therapy expert can help.
