Imagine getting into great shape for your fall sports season, one you couldn't be more excited about.

The games begin and you're playing better than ever before, feeling physically dominant while producing at a high level.

But after a weekend of games, you wake up on Monday morning with soreness in your foot.

It wears off as the day goes on, but returns to a greater degree a few days later.

Eventually, it becomes constant.

Sabotaging your ability to play your best.

Even causing you to miss practices and games.

For athletes in their growth years, this is an all-too-common story.

Roughly 1 of every 10 youth sports athletes will be diagnosed with Severs Disease, a nagging growth related pain in the heels or feet.

It can derail promising seasons, sometimes lingering for a year or more.

Severs is caused by repetitive jumping and running at levels beyond what a growing body can handle.

Like any other overuse injury, it can take quite awhile to go away.

Meaning you'll want to do what you can to limit the chances you get it.

Some risk factors are out of your control.

Taller individuals are more susceptible, for example.

But so many other risk factors can be minimized with a sound approach.

For starters, if you play your sport constantly the last thing you need to do is 'go for a run' on your off days.

And if your ankles are tight, make it a priority to stretch regularly.

A whopping 75% of the athletes we've tested in the last 5 years have insufficient ankle mobility.

Isometrically strengthen your feet and lower leg muscles.

Make sure you have the right footwear.

Fix poor sprint technique to limit the pounding your feet take on each and every stride.

You can blame bad luck, or you can fix as much that's within your control as possible.

James Warren Sever coined the term back in 1912, well before state of the art turf, $200 sneakers, and endless sports seasons were ever a thing.

Conditions like Severs Disease are far from new.

And they actually are, partly, due to bad luck.

The length and intensity of the suffering, though, is much more up to you.

It's the tactics you employ to fight back that determine how much it derails your play.