The Performance Lab

December is unequivocally the best month to lots of sports families—holiday tournaments, team parties, lights on the fieldhouse, and yes… cookies everywhere.

As a parent of a teen athlete in the Charlotte area, nothing stops your heart faster than watching your kid limp off the field, grab their shoulder, or wince after a bad landing. Injuries happen—especially in high-growth years when bones grow faster than muscles and tendons can keep up. The good news? Early, sport-specific physical therapy doesn’t just help your athlete heal—it helps them come back stronger, faster, and less likely to get hurt again.

Research consistently shows that athletes who prioritize 8–10 hours of quality sleep per night experience faster reaction times, better decision-making, stronger immune function, and significantly lower injury rates. One landmark study of adolescent athletes found that those sleeping less than 8 hours were 1.7 times more likely to sustain an injury than their well-rested peers (Milewski et al., Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics, 2014).