That Hurts! - Part 2

In my last entry http://basketballmedicine.blogspot.com/2007/09/that-hurts-part-1.html , we reviewed the injuries to women collegiate basketball players.

Now, let's look at the men's injuries.

In their recent Journal of Athletic Training article researchers reveiwed 16 years of NCAA injury surveillance data for men's basketball to identify the types and locations of injuries these athletes sustained.

They found that:

* Approximately 60% of all injuries were to the lower extremity, with ankle sprains being the most common injury overall (26%).

* 1 out of every 4 ankle sprains was a repeat ankle injury ((Please see my previous posts about ankle injuries and their rehabilitation and get yourself into an appropriate program so this doesn't happen to you!).

* Other common injuries included knee injuries (10%), thigh and hip bruises (3.9%) and concussions (3.6%).

* A player was more than twice as likely to sustain an ankle or knee injury in a game than during practice and was 3 times as likely to sustain a concussion in a game as in a practice (This is not surprising since practices are a more controlled and *sometimes* less intense setting than games).

* A trend of increasing incidence of injuries to the head and face was noted over the course of the study with an average increase of 6% each year.

Like the women, the men's college game is getting more and more physical. As the athletes get bigger and stronger, and the court stays the same dimensions, physical contact has become the "dominant cause of player injury".

The authors of this article felt that "the increased in head and facial injuries may indicate that officials need to assess the increased tolerance for physical contact", that is, call the game closer. We also need to encourage the use of mouth guards, but that's another blog entry .

That Hurts! - Part 1

Last month, I spoke about the Perils of Pre-Season, the increased injury rate in pre-season college basketball practices noted in an article from the latest edition of the Journal of Athletic Training.

This month, let's take a closer look at the types of injuries found during men's and women's college basketball play between 1988-2004.

Ladies First .

In this study, researchers reviewed data from the NCAA's Injury Surveillance System to look at the types of injuries sustained by female college basketball players in Divisions I, II and III.

The first interesting piece of information is the number of programs fielding teams. Between 1988 and 2003, the number of varsity women's basketball teams increased 34% from 766 schools to 1026. This likely reflects the significant increase in participation by female athletes and bodes well for the future of the sport.

Now to some of the findings:

Over the 16 years of the study, the rate of injury in a game situation was almost twice as high as the rate in practice. (This is not surprising since practices are a more controlled and *sometimes* less intense setting than games).

More than 60% of all game and practice injuries were to the lower extremities (hips, thighs, knees, ankle, feet).

In both games and practices, ankle injuries were the most common injuries. Of these, 30% were identified as being a repeat injury to an already injured ankle. (Please see my previous posts about ankle injuries and their rehabilitation and get yourself into an appropriate program so this doesn't happen to you!).

Other common game injuries included knee injuries (contact and non-contact) and concussions. Yep, that's right, concussions were 3 times more likely to occur in games vs. practices. This demonstrates that women's basketball is a fast-paced, physical game where heads, elbows and knees often collide.

Anterior cruciate ligamen (ACL) injuries accounted for 8% of game injuries - with more than half of them happening without contact. (There are many risk factors that cause female basketball players to have a 3-6 times greater incidence of ACL injuries. While some factors cannot be changed, there are neuromuscular training programs that have proven to be effective in reducing ACL injur risk and every basketball coach should know about them and integrate them into their players' training).

One other concerning finding was the increasing trend in the rate of stress fractures in the bones of the lower leg and foot. While this could be due to improvements in the technology used to diagnose these injuries, it can also be due to poor footwear (when are players going to stop wearing smaller versions of men's shoes and put on a well-made women's basketball shoe?) poor nutrition (anorexia, low calcium and vitamin D intake, etc.), and insufficient recovery time between games and training sessions.

The authors state that "As the size of players and the speed of the women's game continue to increase, basketball will complete the evolution from a finesse sport to more of a high-risk contact sport". I think that this has already happened and coaches, parents, and trainers need to work together to help reduce the risk of injury for these players so that they can continue to play, and learn from, the game.

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.

Names, Not Numbers

Last week, to honor Coach Roy Williams' induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Raleigh News & Observer published a special keepsake poster in their Sports Section.

Unfortunately, they missed a golden opportunity to recognize the essence of what Coach Williams is about. By focusing on "his" number of wins, numbers of NCAA tournament appearances and winning percentage, the paper did him a disservice.

If they really wanted to illustrate his impact, they should have written the names of every player he's ever coached in the background of his photo.

While I understand that a coach is usually evaluated by his won/loss record, the true measure (and example) of a great coach is not the numbers of wins or losses; it's the positive effect they have had on the people around them.

The Perils of Pre-Season

In articles from the most recent issue of the Journal of Athletic Training , researchers examining 15 years of college basketball injury data found that pre-season practice injury rates were about 2 and 1/2 times higher than in-season practice rates.

As the authors comment, this may be due to the fact that pre-season practices are physically more intense, focusing more on conditioning while in-season practices focus more on strategy and game preparation.

However, another potential reason is that players may (unfortunately) not be in shape at the start of pre-season, thinking that this is the time to "get their legs and wind back". In the unprepared player, untreated muscle imbalances, decreased strength, lower cardiovascular conditioning and endurance, and other deficiencies likely increase their risk for a pre-season practice injury.

So what are you waiting for? Don't just get ready for the season by going to the gym to shoot or play in a pick up game. Get a thorough pre-season evaluation now from a physician, physical therapist, athletic trainer, or certified strength and conditioning coach, finish rehabbing any existing injuries, work on neuromuscular training programs to prevent future injuries, work on strengthening your core as well as your arms and legs, and ramp up your cardiovascular conditioning program.

This will increase your chance of becoming a starter, while decreasing your chance for a pre-season injury.

You Are What You Eat

A recent article by Nancy Clark got me to thinking about some of my favorite basketball nutrition articles and resources.

Here's a short list that I've also added to my link section (lower right hand corner of this blog) .

While these links provide good general information, none of it takes the place of having a sports dietitian work with you to optimize your nutrition.

http://www.theacc.com/genrel/020706aae.html

Fueling the Fastbreak- Article by Jen Ketterly, MS, RD

http://www.ais.org.au/nutrition/documents/FuelBasket.pdf

Basketball Nutrition Handout - from the Australian Institute of Sport

http://www.gssiweb.com/Article_Detail.aspx?articleid=754
Better Nutrition Equals Better Hoops - from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute

http://kidnetic.com/

A healthy eating and active living Web site for kids ages 9-12 and their families, from the International Food Information Council.

http://www.scandpg.org/

Website for Sports, Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutritionists section of the American Dietetic Association. If you want to work with a Registered Dietitian in your area that specializes in sports nutrition go to http://www.scandpg.org/mapsearch.php .

Bon Apetit.

Jump! - Plyometrics in Youth Basketball - Part 2

Last month, I promised to continue my discussion about the use of plyometrics in youth basketball.

In this entry, I offer some suggestions about appropriate times to train, amount of training, length of training, and some useful and credible resources.

Like most pre-season programs that cause neuromuscular changes, you should start plyometric training at least 6 weeks before the start of practice.

A good youth plyometrics program is based upon these 5 principles:

1) Sufficient warmup – Any good workout should start with a dynamic warm-up to get the muscles ready for training.

2) Appropriate overload – Work first with simple body weight exercises that are enough to challenge you. Don't use heavy weights or deep jumps.

3) Gradual progression – Don’t try to do too much too soon. If you do, you’re just asking for a good case of Osgood-Schlatter Disease or Sever’s Disease. Start with less intense exercises and then gradually progress to more advanced ones.

4) Cool-down Period and

5) Adequate Rest- Most experts recommend 2 or 3 days of rest between plyometric training to enable your muscles to recover and grow from the previous workout. This usually works out to twice each week on non-consecutive days.

Make sure that when you do plyometric exercises, you:

Use soft training surfaces.(Jumping on concrete or asphalt can lead to knee, ankle, and hip damage).

Use non-skid training surfaces.

Use jumping boxes that will not move.

Wear proper shoes.

Keep the jumping area free of clutter.

Remember:

Learn and practice proper landing form on all jumps because landing with stiff, straight legs puts pressure on the ligaments and bones and not the muscles. This can cause injury and reduces the effectiveness of your training.

Plyometric drills should be performed when your legs are fresh and before lifting weights.

When it comes to plyometric drills, more is not necessarily better.

For more information about plyometrics, read Progressive Plyometrics for Kids by Faigenbaum, Falkel and Chu and Jumping into Plyometrics by Donald Chu, PhD.

Jump to it!