Sports Medicine Course to be held in the Waimarino

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 40, 18 March 1986, Page 17

Sports Medicine Course to be held in the Waimarino

Don Allomes, qualified physical education instructor and physiotherapist, is running a REAP course on sports medicine and prevention of injuries on Sunday 23 March and Sunday 6 April. In this article he outlines techniques of sports injury prevention.

Sports injuries are perhaps the most obvious negative aspect of sport, as their effects are both immediate and long-term. Injuries reduce the quality of life in the short-term with pain and a decrease "in mobility, and can reduce the potential or career expection of a player by the residual or recurrent effects. Factors that increase the chance of injury are: Fatigue: due to poor training, planning and commitment to fitness; Lack of strength: personal strength and muscle tone indicate a balance in training that enable the sportsperson to survive that "extra effort" often required in the heat of the game or sport; Lack of flexibility: stretch programmes for muscles and joints at risk in any particular sport allow the player to accept considerable body deformation without injury; Poor or dangerous equipment: most equipment is

designed to protect or improve performance and should be of top quality and not neglected; Poor attitude to sport: a "win at all costs" attitude leads to overcommitment or even deliberate injury-causing activity; Poor sportsmanship: trying to win through physical domination or damage rather than skilled performance; Poor preparation immediately prior to event: for example overeating, overdrinking, overexertion can lead to injury. A positive attitude to fit-

ness will prevent most injuries. Decide what level you will be performing at, what is your physical commitment and how much time you have available to train. Do not over-estimate your level of fitness and allow plenty of time to get fit. A planned programme carefully monitored and recorded over several months three to six nights a week, is not an unusual programme. It is a good idea to analyse the kind of fitness your sport requires because it means that training is directed towards requirements of that sport. Some aspects that should be incorporated are: Strength: including upper body, lower body and trunk. Weight training techniques are best used here; Cardiovascular: heart and blood vessel training for endurance. Major organs of the body including lungs also require training to be fully efficient. Running, cyling and swimming induce heavy breathing and get the blood flowing efficiently; Power: the maintenance of movement, the combination of strength and coordination of many muscle groups. The tennis serve, football kicks and softball pitches are examples; Balance: this is the ability to remain in control of the body against the force of gravity and other externally applied force and being aware of the position of the

body despite unexpected movement changes; Flexibility: this is the ability of the body to accept an extreme range of movement of any joint. Some people can become so inflexible that normal movement can damage ligaments, tendons, muscles and joints. Injury prevention requires planning. Analyse your sports injury pattern and use practical avoidance techniques. Protective equipment such as shoulder guards, shin and elbow guards, safety goggles and sunglasses are some examples. Training procedures should assist, for example use regular stretching and skill training warm ups before games. Equipment should fit and function perfectly — test it to make sure. Coaches should spend time thinking about their team's performance. When "psyching" up the team the coach should think about what may cause damage to players. He should aim to control the vital pre-match period, for instance eating and drinking, warming and stretching, and psychological discussion. Coaches should avoid exhortation to physically damage the opposition and should plan strategies to avoid injury. In a later article Don Allomes will discuss the ways to recognise injuries and how to reduce their effects.