“AAU Knee”

Had a case recently with a young athlete I work with who plays a lot of basketball having a knee issue. I am not a clinician, so I told them to see a medical professional to get it checked, but my unofficial diagnosis was what I call “AAU Knee”.

This is what happens when young adolescents play upwards of over 12-15 hours per week of basketball between games and practices, with sometimes 7-8 games in a weekend tournament and 3-4 games in a single day.

Now this will often be called an “overuse” injury and that would be technically correct, but I think of it more as an “under preparation” problem. NBA and Division I players play less than half that many games in a week, but they have full time medical and training staffs, and are far more physically mature and developed, and they still need to monitor their workload to remain healthy.

Former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy recently questioned all of the sports science being utilized in today’s pro game and pointing out that with all of it, there is still a prevalence of injuries. What doesn’t get recognized is that many of these players are broken by a system that wears them out mentally and physically by grinding away at non-stop money-grab tournaments and showcases that start when they are in elementary school.

We see similar issues in sports like baseball where the sport has been taken over by year-round travel programs and the epidemic of arm injuries that show up in the years after.

Sorry but there is no knee strap, foam roller, stretch or exercise that fixes this problem. Until we invest as much focus and time on player DEVELOPMENT as we do GAMES, it will continue to be an issue.