Women in sports is not a new phenomenon, but the rate at which women’s athletic performance has improved is one such phenomenon.
Each and every year we are now seeing women’s athletic records in all sports being broken and then broken again. The reasons are many, more women involved in sports from a young age, a more competitive environment in women’s sports, better training methods and better knowledgeable coaches.
I am the father of three daughters and a son who has been playing sports for the last 20 years or so. If you’re from the baby boomer era, you might be able to relate. There always seemed to be a training difference between the successful men/boys coaches and the successful girls/women coaches. Not so much in terms of what defensive or offensive system was run, but generally the personality of the coaches, whether male or female, was different. In recent years, this has changed. Pat Summit is as tough on her girls as any other man, and today she is the mentor of many successful female coaches. The competitive nature of women’s sports has caused the competitive personalities of both female coaches and female players to grow to a level of some equality among the men of the sporting clan.
The only area of women’s athletics that has evolved more recently is the specification of training for the female athlete. Coaches, trainers, doctors, they’ve all worked together to realize that women’s athletic training needs require a different program than men’s. One of the best examples is the knees, women in sports suffer a much higher number of ACL injuries. In university basketball 4 times more than boys, in gymnastics 3 times more. The reasons are many, there is an anatomical difference in the composition of the muscular and skeletal area of the knee which, according to some doctors, is the main cause, proper physical training can improve the strength of the internal and external muscles that protect the knee.
Today’s women’s sports programs, today’s parents of female athletes, they all want their teams, their daughters, to perform to the best of their athletic potential. Take the time to find out how you, as a coach or the mom or dad of that athlete, can ensure you have a fitness program designed to protect and enhance the physical attributes of the female athlete.
