Youth sport produces a pattern of that adult medicine did not expect.
Growing bones fail at the rather than in the middle of the shaft.
injuries have risen sharply as children in one sport earlier.
A child who plays football all year uses the same joints in the same way for twelve months.
Sports medicine now recommends at least three months a year in a different activity.
The advice conflicts directly with how talent programmes select.
Early specialisation is rewarded at selection even though it predicts adult success poorly.
Follow-up studies of elite adults show that most played several sports until their mid-teens.
is the second area where practice has changed.
now remove a player from the field on rather than on proof.
The rule works because it takes the decision away from the child and the coach.
Neither can judge the , and both have an obvious reason to continue.
Schools that adopted the protocol report more removals and fewer serious cases.