Over the past 11 years, I've been fortunate to gain experience as both an athlete and a physician in collegiate athletics at three separate schools. I’ve been able to work with hundreds if not thousands of collegiate athletes, and the biggest factor I’ve seen that determines the success of these athletes both at the collegiate level and beyond are the habits that are built toward recovery. My goal while working in college sports has always been to teach the athletes with whom I work to better understand how to take care of their bodies.
In my private practice, my vision is to create a practice that provides access to the tools and information necessary to help high school and amateur athletes to better understand and implement proper recovery habits earlier in their careers to help to promote personal responsibility and increased longevity.
If you are a high school athlete—or a parent or coach of a high school athlete—and want to have a long career in sports, the quicker you understand the reality of the body, the better. Most kids and even their parents want to believe that they have the future laid out. Unfortunately, life does not always work that way. If you are unfamiliar with the probability of a high school athlete going on to play at the Division I collegiate level, only 1-2% percent high school athletes will accomplish this. After that, only another small percentage of that 1-2% will make it to the pros, and a smaller percentage of that will have long careers. But why?
1. A Dose of Reality
2. Understanding Basic Recovery
3. Your Body is Your Biggest Asset -- Invest in it
As a teenage high school athlete, you have a long path ahead of you before you generate true success in athletics. There are many others like you on this same path, and if you wish to continue on, you must be willing to do more than everyone else if you want to avoid falling off the path like all of the others have.
To learn more about how to generate true success, visit Dr. Detweiler's full article, The Importance of Recovery for Youth Athletes on EliteFTS.com.