More and more children are engaging in sports and physical activities than ever before. And with the increasing availability of sports camps and structured community activities, children can now practice their chosen sport all year long. Engaging in physical exercise imparts a host of benefits such as healthy social interaction and physical and emotional development.

Sports are safe for the most part, but any physical activity brings a degree of risk for injuries. And if your child is injured, they have to be sidelined. Sports tools such as a Stalker baseball radar gun go a long way in improving the game, but parents and guardians also need to do what they can to reduce the risk of preventable injuries.

1. Get a physical exam

Before engaging in any type of physical activity, you need to make sure your child receives a comprehensive physical exam from a physician. A thorough physical review shouldn’t be too different from other health assessments, except the focus is on checking whether your child is fit to play sports or not.

Sports doctors can recommend measures to improve your child’s performance. You also need to inform the coaches about any pertinent medical information such as medical conditions that require special attention, medical history, and contact numbers.

2. Engage in open communication

You need to maintain an open line of communication with your child. Help them understand that they can talk to you right away if they need help or if they’re experiencing emotional or physical pain.

Ideally, you want your child to partake in relatively pain-free sports. But many of the most popular sports are physically taxing, and children naturally gravitate towards them. Sports culture also has a way of telling athletes to push through with pain, which can lead to a more serious injury.

3. Play multiple sports

It’s not uncommon today for people to play the same sport all year round. Some people even play on two basketball or football teams as a way to maximize their engagement with the sport. But it’s incredibly important for athletes to introduce variation to their activities to ensure they’re continuously putting stress on the same parts of the body.

For instance, you could have your child swim and play baseball instead of doing one sport over and over again. Or they can introduce other physical activities such as yoga to their practice to ensure their muscles and joints aren’t pushed to the limit.

4. Always warm-up

Warm-up exercises before starting a physical activity or sport help reduce the risk of preventable injuries. Incorporate both dynamic and static warm-up exercises to help prepare the muscles for rigorous activity.

If your body doesn’t move from its position while warming up, that’s considered a static exercise. Meanwhile, exercises that involve a lot of movement, such as jumping jacks, are dynamic.

By following these safety pointers, your child will be able to enjoy sports instead of looking from the sidelines. If your child does get injured, make sure to seek treatment right away. Any injury, no matter how small, can progress into something more serious. If the problems persist, parents and guardians should talk to their coach about long-term viability.