Best Wishes for a Quick Recovery

My prayers and best wishes go out to Antawm Jamison of the Washington Wizards who injured his right knee in the first half of his team's pre-season game last night.

I was fortunate to meet Mr. Jamison, a former National Player of the Year at UNC , this past Summer when we provided some education, measurements and testing during his annual All-Star Basketball Camp in Charlotte for area children.

Watching him during the camp and learning more about his charitable endeavors off the court, I learned that he's not only an exceptional basketball player, but a good man as well.

I hope he recovers soon.

What Female Basketball Players Kneed to Know

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/gallery/acl/flash.htm

Basketball season starts in 6-8 weeks.

Just enough time for you to do something important.

In previous blogs, I've discussed various knee injuries, including the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, a serious knee injury for which female athletes are 3 to 6 times more likely to suffer than their male counterparts.

Here's some more information from a recent article in The American Journal of Sports Medicine that examined knee injuries among boys and girls on High School teams in the United States.

• Knee injuries were three times more likely to happen in a game than in a practice (not surprising, since practice is usually less intense and takes place in a more "controlled environment" than games).
• The highest rates of knee injuries for girls in the study were seen in soccer and basketball.
• Female high school basketball players were almost twice as likely to sustain a knee injury compared to the male players in the study.
• Almost half of the knee injuries to girl basketball players caused them to lose more than 3 weeks of their season (or end their season or their career).
• More than 1/3 of all knee injuries suffered by the female high school basketball players required surgical repair.
  

So what do female basketball players "kneed" to know?

Although not as combative a sport as football or wrestling, playing basketball puts the female athlete at a higher than normal risk for a knee injury that can end her playing career. While female players can't hope to avoid contact in what is becoming a high-contact sport, and they can't change the way they are built, they can significantly reduce their risk of suffering an ACL injury by spending the next 6-8 weeks working on an ACL injury reduction program.

For a list of some of the available programs, scroll down some and click on the PEP Program or the Girls Can Jump links in the Injury Prevention section found on the right hand side of this blog.

If you're a female basketball player, it's no longer an option. It's something you "kneed" to do.

A Tough Night for Alex Miller

Sara D Davis/ AP Photo

Wishes for a full recovery go out to senior leader and point guard Alex Miller who sustained multiple injuries during the UNC Women's game this past Friday night. One of the injuries was relatively minor: the other might have ended her season.

In the first half, she jammed finger(s) on her left hand while taking a pass in the backcourt. She went to the bench, got some buddy taping of her fingers, and re- entered the game.

In the second half, on a drive to the basket, she sustained a serious knee injury (a patellar tendon tear). While it's not an ACL, MCL, LCL and/or meniscus tear , it will likely keep her off the court for a while. This type of injury is relatively infrequent, but can occur in jumping athletes, especially those who have had a history of patellar tendonitis.

This weekend, she'll be dealing with pain, frustration, fear, anger, and a whole lot of emotions. I suspect that she'll get the support she needs from friends, family, and teammates to process this, and I hope that she will be able to come to the realization that, even if she may not practice or play with the team again this year, she can still teach, still support, still lead, and still be a factor in her team's success.

Wishes for a Speedy Recovery

Just wanted to send out wishes for a speedy recovery to Greg Oden of the Portland Trailblazers.

First it was hand surgery at Ohio State, then it was inflamed tonsils during the NBA Summer League and now, it's cartilage damage in his right knee.

He underwent microfracture surgery yesterday and may miss this entire season. Many times, an athlete feels that s/he is defined by what is done on the court, and can become depressed and angry when an injury prevents them from playing.

I hope that Mr Oden understands that his job now is the same as it is for any injured basketball player - to rest, recover, and work hard in rehabilitation so that when he returns to the court, he'll be in better shape and better able to contribute to his team.