Management of youth athletic injuries in alpine skiing

Abstract

The popularity of alpine skiing is growing among young athletes. However, this development also carries the risk of early health problems such as traumatic and overuse injuries. To support a long-term beneficial effect of an early sport specialization, the amount of appropriate volume and intensity of training need to be investigated. As a basis for a prospective and reliable data collection, we developed a training and injury database to repeatedly record the occurrence of traumatic injuries and overuse injuries. Study participants were 82 young talented alpine skiers aged between 9 and 14 years. We found a relatively high rate of 0,86 traumatic injuries per 1000 hours of training. In contrast a low occurence of overuse injuries were recorded (0,28/1000 hours of training). Further research is required on sport specific, age- and development-related risk factors and the appropriate amount of training to guarantee long-term health benefits of youth elite athletes.