Why High School Athletes Are More Prone to Overuse Injuries in 2025

By. Dr. Stephan Stasiuk PT, DPT

High school sports in 2025 are more competitive, demanding, and year-round than ever before. While this has created more opportunities for young athletes, it has also led to a significant rise in overuse injuries. At Out of the Box Physical Therapy in Cedar Knolls, NJ, we regularly see high school athletes sidelined not by one big injury—but by repetitive stress that builds over time.

Understanding why these injuries are happening and how to address them is key to keeping athletes healthy, strong, and performing at their best.

What Are Overuse Injuries?

Overuse injuries develop when repetitive stress is placed on the body without adequate recovery. Unlike sudden injuries, these issues build gradually and often start as “minor” pain that athletes try to push through.

Common overuse injuries in high school athletes include:

• Tendonitis (knee, Achilles, shoulder, elbow)

• Stress reactions or stress fractures

• Shin splints

• Shoulder and elbow pain in throwing athletes

• Chronic knee or hip pain

Left unaddressed, these injuries can worsen and lead to extended time away from sport.

Why Overuse Injuries Are Increasing in 2025

1. Year-Round Sports & Early Specialization

Many athletes now play one sport year-round, repeating the same movement patterns with little offseason recovery. This constant loading increases stress on the same joints and tissues.

2. Higher Training Volumes

Between school teams, club sports, showcases, private lessons, and strength training, athletes are doing more than ever—often without proper workload management.

3. Limited Recovery

Busy schedules, inadequate sleep, and few rest days prevent the body from fully recovering and adapting to training demands.

4. Poor Movement Mechanics

Strength imbalances, mobility restrictions, and faulty movement patterns often go unnoticed until pain develops. These deficits place excessive stress on certain areas of the body.

5. Growth and Development

High school athletes are still growing. Rapid growth spurts can temporarily affect coordination, flexibility, and strength, increasing injury risk when training loads remain high.

Preventing Overuse Injuries Before They Start

Injury prevention goes beyond stretching and rest. True prevention requires identifying how an athlete moves and where their body may be breaking down.

Effective prevention strategies include:

• Sport-specific strength and conditioning

• Proper workload and recovery management

• Addressing movement imbalances early

• Cross-training and structured rest

• Professional movement assessments

This is where physical therapy plays a critical role—even before pain begins.

Physical Therapy: The Front Line for Rehab and Return to Sport

When overuse injuries do occur, physical therapy should be the first step—not the last. At Out of the Box Physical Therapy, we serve as a front-line provider to help athletes recover efficiently and return to sport safely.

Our approach focuses on:

• Treating the root cause, not just symptoms

• Restoring mobility, strength, and control

• Correcting faulty movement patterns

• Progressing athletes through sport-specific rehab

• Reducing the risk of re-injury

Rather than generic rehab programs, we provide one-on-one, individualized care designed to translate directly to athletic performance.

Why Out of the Box Physical Therapy Is Different

Not all physical therapy is the same.

At Out of the Box Physical Therapy, every session includes:

• 1-on-1 treatment with a licensed physical therapist

• Individualized, athlete-specific programming

• Sport-specific rehab and injury prevention

• A focus on long-term durability and performance—not just pain relief

We treat athletes, not diagnoses.

Get PT First: Take Action Before Injury Sidelines You

Whether an athlete is dealing with nagging pain or wants to reduce injury risk, the smartest first step is to Get PT First.

👉 Start with a Functional Movement Screen (FMS)

Our Functional Movement Screen (FMS) helps identify movement deficits, imbalances, and limitations that increase injury risk. From there, we build a targeted plan to improve movement quality, enhance athleticism, and keep athletes on the field.

📍 Out of the Box Physical Therapy – Cedar Knolls, NJ🏃 Sports Rehab | Physical Therapy | Injury Prevention

Don’t wait until pain becomes an injury. Get PT First—and stay in the game