I've been a volleyball doctor for the US Volleyball Men's and Women's National Teams since 2005. Those amazing players- and some amazing medical colleagues, have taught me about the game. They have also taught me about common injuries- and how to prevent them. For indoor...

The following post on Return to Sport is from the Fall 2018 Orange County Magazine I often get asked how to determine when a young athlete should return to sport after injury. In many cases, injured young athletes tend to heal quickly. However, in a worst-case...

Wondering if your child's sports schedules are putting them at risk for overuse injuries? Have an injured child and thinking that too much sport activity may have been a cause? Feeling overwhelmed as a sports parent and want to know when to say stop to all those...

Volleyball players can have unique appearances to their shoulder blade on the hitting side- let's call it volleyball shoulder. What does volleyball shoulder look like? Take a close look at this video of a left-handed elite volleyball hitter. Pay special attention to the her left shoulder blade....

Sports physicals offer golden opportunities to share information and listen to young patients. Sure, they frequently are viewed by parents and young athletes as more annoyance than necessity. It’s easy for sports physicals to turn into automatic answers to a list of questions. Those long checklists on sports...

Great to have master physical therapist Ziad Dahdul DPT, OCS back to share his thoughts on preventing kids shoulder pain. Ziad writes on kids shoulder pain as an orthopedic physical therapist and owner of Ignite Phyzio & Sports Performance, serving Orange and Los Angeles Counties. He...

Dance discomfort- comes with the territory of doing the usual hard work on the dance floor. Muscles hurt, toes feel cramps, the back is sore. Then there is the mental discomfort- am I jumping as high, as often, as well as I could be? These are common, everyday...

Bring me a case of a kids shoulder pain, and I will l likely figure out the cause pretty quickly. Doesn't matter if they are a volleyball hitter, baseball pitcher, swimmer, or tennis player. Unless there was some kind of accident where the shoulder came out (or almost...

I'm on a crusade to protect young catchers. Willing and talented young catchers are in demand to manage pitchers, call defenses, handle balls in the dirt, and make a lot of throws Most of this while being in the squat position with foul balls a common occupational hazard. In fact,...

Cheerleaders are amazing athletes that need agility, strength, and frequent practice to prevent cheerleading injuries. Backspots, bases, flyers and tumblers all need proper skills and essential coordination. Unfortunately, the frequency of cheerleading injuries is rising with the increasing complexity of stunts. No matter the injured body part, the common...