The fall sports season will be here before you know it, and summer’s carefree days will give way to intense practices and weekends filled with games and matches. What you do now, during late summer, can make a big difference once the season begins.

Many athletes spend the summer months staying active, but that doesn’t necessarily prepare the body for the demands of competition. A structured preseason plan can help you build strength, improve movement, and reduce the risk of injuries that can lead to missed practices and games.

At Total Motion Physical Therapy, we know the bustle of the fall sports season well, having participated in it ourselves! Popular fall sports involve many high-level movements, including sprinting, jumping, and cutting, which can place stress on your body’s tissues. If you jump into these activities too quickly, you’re more likely to suffer injuries like strains, sprains, or tendinitis.

However, a thoughtful preseason program prepares the body for these demands. The right combination of strength and mobility training, sport-specific conditioning, and recovery strategies in the summer improves physical readiness while reducing the chance of losing valuable playing time come fall.

1. Build Strength Before Practices Begin

Progressive strength training prepares muscles and tendons to handle the demands of regular practices and competition. Our team can work with you to identify muscle imbalances and develop an individualized strengthening program based on your sport and goals. This might include strengthening:

• Legs and hips for power and stability
• Core muscles for balance and body control
• Upper body for throwing, catching, and contact sports

2. Improve Mobility and Movement Quality

Stiff joints can limit your body’s ability to adapt to sudden changes in movement. Over time, this forces nearby muscles to absorb heavy impacts at awkward angles, which can lead to deep soreness or irritation. Our team can evaluate your movement patterns and let you know which areas to work on, providing you with a program that might include:

• Dynamic warm-up exercises
• Mobility drills for the hips, shoulders, and ankles
• Stretching after activity to restore mobility and reduce muscle soreness during recovery

3. Gradually Increase Conditioning

Jumping from summer break into full-speed practices places significant stress on the body. Instead, you want to aim for a gradual progression that allows your heart, lungs, muscles, and connective tissues to safely adapt to the increase in intensity.

Before training starts, gradually increase activity over several weeks by working in activities like:

• Running
• Sprint intervals
• Agility drills
• Sport-specific conditioning

4. Practice Sport-Specific Skills

General fitness is important, but athletes also need to prepare for the movements required in their sport, preferably under our team’s guidance, as we can ensure you’re practicing the safe movement patterns needed to handle unexpected moves safely.

For example, you might work on:

• Cutting and pivoting for soccer and football
• Throwing mechanics for baseball and softball
• Jumping and landing drills for volleyball and basketball
• Sprint starts for track athletes

5. Schedule a Preseason Movement Assessment

Every athlete moves differently. A preseason assessment from our team helps identify strength deficits, mobility limitations, balance concerns, and movement patterns that may increase your injury risk. Once they’re identified, we’ll create a custom plan to address them using treatment techniques like:

• Manual therapy to improve joint and soft tissue mobility
• Dry needling to reduce muscle tightness and improve movement in appropriate cases
• Therapeutic exercise to improve strength, balance, and coordination
• Sport-specific return-to-play progressions that safely prepare you for competition

The final weeks of summer offer an excellent opportunity to prepare your body for the demands of fall sports. Building strength, improving movement, increasing conditioning, and addressing small problems now can help you stay healthy throughout the season. That way, you can spend the fall focused on improving your performance, not recovering from preventable injuries.

If you want to make the most of the rest of your summer, the sports physical therapy team at Total Motion Physical Therapy is here to help. We provide individualized evaluations, evidence-based treatment, and sport-specific training to help athletes move better, perform with confidence, and spend more time doing what they love. Schedule an appointment today to get started.