UNC 2024 Injuries

[Brownlax]

Agree with the gymnastics, but I would throw up a caution. My D1 lax daughter dropped gymnastics in 4th grade when they wanted her in the gym 5 days a week for 3 hours a day. Gymnastics is great ... but you very quickly get to a level that is PRIME for overuse injuries.

Knowing what I know now, I would recommend an intentional program of core strengthening beginning in middle school ... and a conscientious use of REST and RECOVERY.

Same with my daughter; she was in gymnastic and loved it, when, at nine years old, she was encouraged -- with an intensity that you wouldn't believe -- to "shake off" a very sore ankle and compete with it "taped up fine."

I had two players who were ranked gymnasts and they both quit due to the toll it took on their bodies - ankles, hips and knees

[lax410]

Big fan of field hockey or basketball for my young laxers.

You can’t even do a select/travel town soccer team here without committing to a full year. And don’t even think about club soccer unless you’re committed to 10 continuous months of play. Soccer sucks.

[cltlax]

We're in a non-hotbed. My youngest starting playing travel soccer at 7. Picked up lacrosse at 11. Now a senior in HS and played club soccer and lacrosse the whole time. Committed to play both in college next year. It was not easy balancing the overlap, but both sets of coaches were reasonable. I think continuing to play both helped her not get burned out with either.

[njbill]

Big fan of field hockey or basketball for my young laxers.

The late great iaamfan told me that field hockey and basketball were the best sports to prepare for lacrosse.

Had never heard about gymnastics being good training for lacrosse. Interesting. From what little I know about the sport, it sounds like it’s at the extreme end of the spectrum in terms of overtraining, overuse, and draconian coaches.

[intheknow247]

BWW & Marissa White - proven major contributors.

Chloe Humphrey, while one of the most heralded recruits in recent memory - hasn't seen a day of competitive college lacrosse yet. But sure, for argument's sake let's just say she contributes.

Kaleigh Harden, who did not start but was a solid midfield reserve, & Student, both contributed on the draw - but that's about it. I wouldn't consider them overall major contributors, but that's JMO.

I'm going to disagree with you on Kaleigh Harden:
2023 ACC All-Freshman Team
2023 All-ACC Academic Team
2024 U.S. U20 National Training Team
2nd on team last year with 54 draw controls

That's a really good year for a 1st year player.

Did you really list “All-ACC Academic Team” as a qualifier for being a good player??? Hahahahahahahahahahah

I listed her accomplishments from freshman year. Good to see you laugh at a kid not only being a great athlete but a great student. I hope your daughter has a good year in school.

Wasn't laughing at her.....was laughing at you!

[lax410]

Big fan of field hockey or basketball for my young laxers.

The late great iaamfan told me that field hockey and basketball were the best sports to prepare for lacrosse.

Lots of crossover in both sports. Another thing I like is both FH and Bball monopolize less of kids time compared to soccer. Around me, both have seasonal AAU/club options. So a kid can try more advanced bball/FH and lax and see what sticks. It’s so hard to do that with soccer (we did for our oldest, but total nightmare).

[totc]

Did I hear right that the total of injured players at the end of the season reached six?

[GratefulRed]

Did I hear right that the total of injured players at the end of the season reached six?

I hadn't heard about the Ashley H injury until the broadcast today. I don't know her injury.

[laxguy95]

Chloe H
BWW
Marisa White
Grace Ann Leonard
Eva Ingrilli
Sophie Student
Ashley H
Kaleigh Harden

Could be missing one or two more

[totc]

Yeah, the announcer mentioned that and it was unbelievable.

[Brownlax]

Chloe H
BWW
Marisa White
Grace Ann Leonard
Eva Ingrilli
Sophie Student
Ashley H
Kaleigh Harden

Could be missing one or two more

Tough to recover from that many losses. Looking forward to 2025!!

[Essexfenwick]

Why is UNC injuring so many? It’s like a curse.

[wlaxphan20]

Why is UNC injuring so many? It’s like a curse.

What an odd way to phrase that. UNC isn’t injuring their players. They’re getting injured.

[LaxDadMax]

Big fan of field hockey or basketball for my young laxers.

The late great iaamfan told me that field hockey and basketball were the best sports to prepare for lacrosse.

Had never heard about gymnastics being good training for lacrosse. Interesting. From what little I know about the sport, it sounds like it’s at the extreme end of the spectrum in terms of overtraining, overuse, and draconian coaches.

Got to disagree with FH for a few reasons. My wife is a PT so this opinion is somewhat informed

1) FH and lacrosse (like soccer) are both field sports that emphasizes similar joints and tends to lead to overuse injuries -- Stress fractures and some LCL/MCL injuries.

When my wife hears someone recommending a young lax player takes up soccer or field hockey to prevent overuse injuries, she struggles to not laugh.

2) FH encourages girls to have their feet outside shoulders when controlling/running with the ball. This is not a position you want to train because it leads to injuries.

In terms of best second sport to help lacrosse skills, I think the top answer is ice hockey and it isn't close. Great for conditioning, lower/upper body power as well as spacing and vision. I think wrestling is great as well and is growing very fast. Also think tennis and basketball are great too.

[wlaxphan20]

Big fan of field hockey or basketball for my young laxers.

The late great iaamfan told me that field hockey and basketball were the best sports to prepare for lacrosse.

Had never heard about gymnastics being good training for lacrosse. Interesting. From what little I know about the sport, it sounds like it’s at the extreme end of the spectrum in terms of overtraining, overuse, and draconian coaches.

Got to disagree with FH for a few reasons. My wife is a PT so this opinion is somewhat informed

1) FH and lacrosse (like soccer) are both field sports that emphasizes similar joints and tends to lead to overuse injuries -- Stress fractures and some LCL/MCL injuries.

When my wife hears someone recommending a young lax player takes up soccer or field hockey to prevent overuse injuries, she struggles to not laugh.

2) FH encourages girls to have their feet outside shoulders when controlling/running with the ball. This is not a position you want to train because it leads to injuries.

In terms of best second sport to help lacrosse skills, I think the top answer is ice hockey and it isn't close. Great for conditioning, lower/upper body power as well as spacing and vision. I think wrestling is great as well and is growing very fast. Also think tennis and basketball are great too.

With the current nature of club/travel sports, I’d say that pretty much every sport will lead to overuse injuries.

[LaxDadMax]

Big fan of field hockey or basketball for my young laxers.

The late great iaamfan told me that field hockey and basketball were the best sports to prepare for lacrosse.

Had never heard about gymnastics being good training for lacrosse. Interesting. From what little I know about the sport, it sounds like it’s at the extreme end of the spectrum in terms of overtraining, overuse, and draconian coaches.

Got to disagree with FH for a few reasons. My wife is a PT so this opinion is somewhat informed

1) FH and lacrosse (like soccer) are both field sports that emphasizes similar joints and tends to lead to overuse injuries -- Stress fractures and some LCL/MCL injuries.

When my wife hears someone recommending a young lax player takes up soccer or field hockey to prevent overuse injuries, she struggles to not laugh.

2) FH encourages girls to have their feet outside shoulders when controlling/running with the ball. This is not a position you want to train because it leads to injuries.

In terms of best second sport to help lacrosse skills, I think the top answer is ice hockey and it isn't close. Great for conditioning, lower/upper body power as well as spacing and vision. I think wrestling is great as well and is growing very fast. Also think tennis and basketball are great too.

With the current nature of club/travel sports, I’d say that pretty much every sport will lead to overuse injuries.

I think there are good and bad clubs across most travel sports in regards to this. Though I think anyone who is consistently playing 2 sports at a time past age 12 is taking significant risk.

[Essexfenwick]

Why is UNC injuring so many? It’s like a curse.

What an odd way to phrase that. UNC isn’t injuring their players. They’re getting injured.

Good point. I meant that UNC seems cursed by injuries.

[njbill]

Big fan of field hockey or basketball for my young laxers.

The late great iaamfan told me that field hockey and basketball were the best sports to prepare for lacrosse.

Had never heard about gymnastics being good training for lacrosse. Interesting. From what little I know about the sport, it sounds like it’s at the extreme end of the spectrum in terms of overtraining, overuse, and draconian coaches.

Got to disagree with FH for a few reasons. My wife is a PT so this opinion is somewhat informed

1) FH and lacrosse (like soccer) are both field sports that emphasizes similar joints and tends to lead to overuse injuries -- Stress fractures and some LCL/MCL injuries.

When my wife hears someone recommending a young lax player takes up soccer or field hockey to prevent overuse injuries, she struggles to not laugh.

2) FH encourages girls to have their feet outside shoulders when controlling/running with the ball. This is not a position you want to train because it leads to injuries.

In terms of best second sport to help lacrosse skills, I think the top answer is ice hockey and it isn't close. Great for conditioning, lower/upper body power as well as spacing and vision. I think wrestling is great as well and is growing very fast. Also think tennis and basketball are great too.

At first I thought this was a serious response. But then I got to the part about wrestling being a great sport to prepare for lacrosse. Well played. You had me going.