What kinds of injuries are we talking about? In my experience, the most common are stress fractures of the spine and overuse injuries affecting the tendons and soft tissues around the shoulder and elbow. These injuries highlight one of the most important factors in youth development: load management.
A young player can easily throw every day for weeks at a time, play multiple rounds per day, complete additional fieldwork after a practice round, and think nothing of it. However, excessive training load, insufficient recovery, and often inadequate energy intake eventually push the body’s tissues beyond their capacity to adapt. The result is usually pain first and, eventually, injury.
What I find interesting is that many parents contact me asking how their child should train technique to stay healthy, how to reduce pain, or how to structure physical training so they can avoid injury. My first question to both the player and the parents is usually:
“How many complete rest days did the player have last week? What about over the last month?”
Surprisingly often, the answer is zero. At that point, technique or strength and conditioning are not the biggest problems in the puzzle.
A young thrower should not be dealing with persistent back pain. If back pain lasts longer than two weeks, keeps returning, or is severe, the athlete should be evaluated as soon as possible by a sports medicine physician or a doctor experienced in spinal injuries.
Too often, back pain in young athletes is dismissed as “tightness” or a normal consequence of training. In reality, persistent back pain may indicate a serious overuse injury, such as a pars stress fracture, where early diagnosis is critical for a successful recovery.
Let’s move on to training and how some of these injuries might be prevented.
Research on athlete development supports the idea that young athletes should first build a broad athletic foundation before specializing heavily in a single sport. Participating in a variety of activities develops coordination, balance, agility, strength, and speed qualities that are highly valuable in disc golf as well. Research has shown that early sport specialization does not improve long-term success in most sports, but it is associated with a higher risk of overuse injuries and sport dropout. For young disc golfers, the goal should not simply be to throw more, but to move more, experience different sports, and build a strong athletic foundation for the future.
Numerous studies have found that elite athletes participated in multiple sports during their youth. For example, NCAA Division I athletes were more likely to have played multiple sports during high school, and their first organized sport was often different from the sport in which they eventually reached an elite level. Similar findings have been reported among professional athletes.
Perhaps the most important finding is that there is little evidence suggesting that specialization before puberty is necessary to achieve elite performance. In fact, early specialization appears to create more risks than benefits in most sports.
If I could give young players only a few simple guidelines, they would be these:
• At least 1–2 complete rest days per week during the competitive season. No rounds, no fieldwork, and no throwing practice.
• During the onseason (May–September), take at least 1–2 full weeks completely away from disc golf. The back and shoulders benefit from periodic breaks from throwing.
• Take a total of 2–3 months away from disc golf each year. This time off does not need to be consecutive and can be spread throughout the year.
• Engage in year-round physical training and maintain participation in multiple sports throughout adolescence.
Summer disc golf regards,
Joonas
References:
Brenner JS; COUNCIL ON SPORTS MEDICINE AND FITNESS. Sports Specialization and Intensive Training in Young Athletes. Pediatrics. 2016 Sep;138(3):e20162148. doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-2148. PMID: 27573090.
Brenner JS, Watson A; COUNCIL ON SPORTS MEDICINE AND FITNESS. Overuse Injuries, Overtraining, and Burnout in Young Athletes. Pediatrics. 2024 Jan 1;153(2):e2023065129. doi: 10.1542/peds.2023-065129. PMID: 38247370.