I have sat through a number of clinic visits and physician’s visits since becoming an Athletic Trainer. There is one thing that has always entered my mind when I sit in the office with my student athletes.
Where is the communication?
I have listened to copious amounts of talking by the physician and not much by the athlete. After the visit is over the athlete usually starts firing off one question after the other on the way out the physician’s office.
In the past, it was accepted that whatever a physician said was the end all be all. If the physician said, “take two of these and call me in the morning,” that’s what you did and you didn’t question it. For example, I had an athlete that had a visit with a soft tissue specialist. I was not able to go with the athlete, but I have worked with the soft tissue specialist in the past – so I knew I would get details from the visit one way or another. However, when the athlete returned from the visit he could tell me nothing about it. I asked what he did and the athlete could not tell me anything!
I have been an advocate of being an informed patient since I have been an Athletic Trainer. I don’t expect you do be able to recite Gray’s Anatomy or have a detailed Biomechanics lecture after a visit with the physician - but you can’t exit the room and just say “I am not sure what he just did.”
As an athlete, at any level, you need to have an understanding of what the physician is talking about when it comes to your health and well-being. Ask the essential questions. What? Why? How? What can I do? Why did you give me this pill? What’s it going to do? Don’t sit back and just accept what the physician has to say. I am not saying you have to challenge the physician’s recommendations, but get the reasons behind why they recommend it.
Be an informed patient – it will help you out in the long run.
Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball
Showing posts with label rehabilitation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rehabilitation. Show all posts
Monday, April 4, 2011
Monday, November 1, 2010
Puppy Training: Trusting the Process
Like a majority of American families, I have a dog to take care of and teach some house etiquette in order to keep my sanity. When he was a puppy my wife and I had to potty train him just like any other puppy. Yeah, he had his share of accidents on the floor and we picked up a lot of poop on those days. It was a process teaching him to wait and go outside. We rewarded him and praised him every time that he went outside. My wife and I trusted that process of potty training and things have worked out.
One can say the same thing about resistance training, corrective exercises, rehab, weight loss, golfing, hitting a baseball – well you get the picture. I am an athletic trainer (would rather be called a movement therapist) and I do have some treatments that will have an athlete feeling pretty good going into a competition, but the results of the treatment don’t typically last. Modalities that are listed as “treatments” are really just band-aids on a ruptured aorta. I am talking about oral NSAIDS, cortisone injections, ice, massage, knee straps, physical therapy, and surgery - all reactive modalities. My athletes wait for issues to reach their threshold and its then when they start to perceive it as a problem. To be blunt – there will never be any modality or treatment that will overcome a dysfunctional athlete with a warped sense of reality with a few weeks or even days before their next competition.
When I would brag on my dog as a puppy he would end up whizzing on the carpet – I would be mad for a minute, clean it up , and take him outside. I made the time to help him out with the process of potty training and guess what - he’s a good dog. I know that if we all had the time (and the commitment of the athletes) that we could make some major adjustments in movement patterns. It’s a process – the runner that has been running for years is probably not going to fix an overuse injury in a matter of a few days. The same can be said about a pitcher with a sore shoulder. Trust the process!!
Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball
One can say the same thing about resistance training, corrective exercises, rehab, weight loss, golfing, hitting a baseball – well you get the picture. I am an athletic trainer (would rather be called a movement therapist) and I do have some treatments that will have an athlete feeling pretty good going into a competition, but the results of the treatment don’t typically last. Modalities that are listed as “treatments” are really just band-aids on a ruptured aorta. I am talking about oral NSAIDS, cortisone injections, ice, massage, knee straps, physical therapy, and surgery - all reactive modalities. My athletes wait for issues to reach their threshold and its then when they start to perceive it as a problem. To be blunt – there will never be any modality or treatment that will overcome a dysfunctional athlete with a warped sense of reality with a few weeks or even days before their next competition.
When I would brag on my dog as a puppy he would end up whizzing on the carpet – I would be mad for a minute, clean it up , and take him outside. I made the time to help him out with the process of potty training and guess what - he’s a good dog. I know that if we all had the time (and the commitment of the athletes) that we could make some major adjustments in movement patterns. It’s a process – the runner that has been running for years is probably not going to fix an overuse injury in a matter of a few days. The same can be said about a pitcher with a sore shoulder. Trust the process!!
Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball
Monday, October 4, 2010
Athletic Destinies Determined By Age 10
I recently came across this article. This is something that I really try to preach to young athletes. I'd be interested to hear some other opinions.
David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com
LeBron James was 10 years old once. By that age, he was on his way to becoming the LeBron James we know today, and he was helped by playing football, according to expert trainers who agree that a range of play activities between age six and 10 helps build a broad base of athletic motor and coordination abilities.
Each year hundreds of kids come through Scott Moody’s AthleteFit facility outside Kansas City, and dozens of them finish high school with collegiate sports scholarships.
“If [kids] don’t develop those manipulative motor skills at that age, that 6-10 window, then they don’t have the confidence necessary to participate,” said Moody. As a result, their overall fitness goes down, further dropping confidence. “It’s this downward spiral that most people never come out of.”
Moody joined more than 100 trainers from across the U.S. and Canada at a recent National Strength and Conditioning Association Youth Training Symposium in Chicago (see him presenting on TRX Suspension Training in the photo above). They discussed how in an overweight yet sports-obsessed culture, trainers are making a difference in how kids get started in athletics.
Patrick McHenry, a high school strength coach in Castle Rock, Colorado, talked about a tall, strong basketball player who could shoot and who looked like he might be great, but as a senior he lacked footwork.
“Was it too late? Yes, for him.” McHenry said. “If we had had him during his sophmore or junior year we could have helped him, but would he have been the best? No.”
Rick Howard, director of athletics for the School District of Philadelphia, gets requests from teachers and coaches for lowest-common-denominator training programs to meet the needs of, say, a third-grade physical education class or a girls’ softball team.
“It’s not that easy,” he tells them. “You really have to know everybody on that team, what they’re good at, what they’re not good at.” Mostly he sees sports instruction and training for kids that winds up reinforcing what they’re already good at, “Kids that are fast, keep them running.”
Reinforcement has run amok in cases where young athletes are opting to specialize in one sport at a young age. In the worst cases, according to McHenry, they run the risk of overuse injuries.
“We find they’re missing their window to all of those motor skills that are going to help them athletically later in the game,” said Moody.
“Girls’ soccer players have trouble tracking the ball in the air,” he pointed out, “because they never played volleyball growing up, they never played softball growing up. They didn’t get used to tracking objects out of the air.”
Mike Nitka is an editor for the trainers’ association journal and a Wisconsin high school wrestling coach. Motor skills in older people, he said, “can be developed, but not at the highest level possible because Mother Nature is trying to give us the biggest assist possible, and these are the windows” for that.
“I have a sign in my office,” Nitka said, “Volleyball players play volleyball. Athletes play anything they want.”
Article taken from news.medill.northwestern.edu.
David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com
LeBron James was 10 years old once. By that age, he was on his way to becoming the LeBron James we know today, and he was helped by playing football, according to expert trainers who agree that a range of play activities between age six and 10 helps build a broad base of athletic motor and coordination abilities.
Each year hundreds of kids come through Scott Moody’s AthleteFit facility outside Kansas City, and dozens of them finish high school with collegiate sports scholarships.
“If [kids] don’t develop those manipulative motor skills at that age, that 6-10 window, then they don’t have the confidence necessary to participate,” said Moody. As a result, their overall fitness goes down, further dropping confidence. “It’s this downward spiral that most people never come out of.”
Moody joined more than 100 trainers from across the U.S. and Canada at a recent National Strength and Conditioning Association Youth Training Symposium in Chicago (see him presenting on TRX Suspension Training in the photo above). They discussed how in an overweight yet sports-obsessed culture, trainers are making a difference in how kids get started in athletics.
Patrick McHenry, a high school strength coach in Castle Rock, Colorado, talked about a tall, strong basketball player who could shoot and who looked like he might be great, but as a senior he lacked footwork.
“Was it too late? Yes, for him.” McHenry said. “If we had had him during his sophmore or junior year we could have helped him, but would he have been the best? No.”
Rick Howard, director of athletics for the School District of Philadelphia, gets requests from teachers and coaches for lowest-common-denominator training programs to meet the needs of, say, a third-grade physical education class or a girls’ softball team.
“It’s not that easy,” he tells them. “You really have to know everybody on that team, what they’re good at, what they’re not good at.” Mostly he sees sports instruction and training for kids that winds up reinforcing what they’re already good at, “Kids that are fast, keep them running.”
Reinforcement has run amok in cases where young athletes are opting to specialize in one sport at a young age. In the worst cases, according to McHenry, they run the risk of overuse injuries.
“We find they’re missing their window to all of those motor skills that are going to help them athletically later in the game,” said Moody.
“Girls’ soccer players have trouble tracking the ball in the air,” he pointed out, “because they never played volleyball growing up, they never played softball growing up. They didn’t get used to tracking objects out of the air.”
Mike Nitka is an editor for the trainers’ association journal and a Wisconsin high school wrestling coach. Motor skills in older people, he said, “can be developed, but not at the highest level possible because Mother Nature is trying to give us the biggest assist possible, and these are the windows” for that.
“I have a sign in my office,” Nitka said, “Volleyball players play volleyball. Athletes play anything they want.”
Article taken from news.medill.northwestern.edu.
Monday, July 26, 2010
The "Sleeper Stretch"
The very nature of the overhead throwing motion subjects the shoulder joint to extreme positions and forces. When this activity is repeated over time, chronic adaptations will occur. When compared to non-throwers, throwing athletes often exhibit an increase in shoulder external rotation range of motion. However, the cost of this increase in external rotation is that it is often balanced by tightness in shoulder internal rotation. When this internal rotation tightness is 20 degrees greater than the non-throwing arm, it is commonly referred to as GIRD -Glenohumeral Internal Rotation Deficit.
Muscular imbalances in a joint or structure (i.e. tightness, etc) can affect the efficiency of the joint and may force other joints to do more work than they can handle. This creates the potential for injury by over stressing the body. Further, it inhibits performance by isolating the kinetic chain, and not allowing integrated movement. GIRD, or tightness of the posterior shoulder capsule / rotator cuff musculature, has been linked to an increased risk of injury by placing added stress on the shoulder decelerators, the internal static structures of the joint (labrum), and has been linked to medial elbow pain and disfunction.
The first line of defense in the prevention and treatment of posterior shoulder tightness is the “Sleeper Stretch”. This exercise is performed by lying on your throwing arm side with knees bent. Place your bottom arm perpendicular to your body with your elbow bent at 90 degrees. Stay on your side and do not lean backwards. Using your free (top) hand, gently push your arm toward the ground until you feel a light stretch or resistance to the movement. Hold that stretch for 5-10 seconds and repeat for 5-10 repetitions. Just as tightness is an acquired adaptation to repetitive movements, flexibility results from the consistent performance of a stretching routine. The “Sleeper Stretch” may be performed several times per day making sure that the joint is not being forced into a painful position / stretch.
When the muscles around a joint are in the proper length-tension ratios, they undergo less stress and can produce more force. Performing the “Sleeper Stretch” can improve shoulder health and performance in the overhead throwing athlete.
David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com
Muscular imbalances in a joint or structure (i.e. tightness, etc) can affect the efficiency of the joint and may force other joints to do more work than they can handle. This creates the potential for injury by over stressing the body. Further, it inhibits performance by isolating the kinetic chain, and not allowing integrated movement. GIRD, or tightness of the posterior shoulder capsule / rotator cuff musculature, has been linked to an increased risk of injury by placing added stress on the shoulder decelerators, the internal static structures of the joint (labrum), and has been linked to medial elbow pain and disfunction.
The first line of defense in the prevention and treatment of posterior shoulder tightness is the “Sleeper Stretch”. This exercise is performed by lying on your throwing arm side with knees bent. Place your bottom arm perpendicular to your body with your elbow bent at 90 degrees. Stay on your side and do not lean backwards. Using your free (top) hand, gently push your arm toward the ground until you feel a light stretch or resistance to the movement. Hold that stretch for 5-10 seconds and repeat for 5-10 repetitions. Just as tightness is an acquired adaptation to repetitive movements, flexibility results from the consistent performance of a stretching routine. The “Sleeper Stretch” may be performed several times per day making sure that the joint is not being forced into a painful position / stretch.
When the muscles around a joint are in the proper length-tension ratios, they undergo less stress and can produce more force. Performing the “Sleeper Stretch” can improve shoulder health and performance in the overhead throwing athlete.
David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com
Monday, December 14, 2009
The New and Improved baseballstrengthcoaching.com
Recently, I was training a young pitcher. We were performing some agility drills and during a rest break, I was explaining to him the reasons for the drill and how they apply to his performance on the mound. We continued with our workout and during our strength training session, the pitcher said to me "I wish our coach knew some of this stuff."
That got me thinking. I have always emphasized educating the particular athletes that I was directly involved with training regarding total player development strategies and fine-tuning skill training for performance enhancement. But, I was missing a whole other population of coaches, athletes, and sports performance professionals that are also involved with teaching and training athletes. Baseballstrengthcoaching.com is now going through some construction. No longer is my focus purely on providing on-line training programs for baseball athletes. The "New and Improved" baseballstrengthcoaching.com is dedicated to further advancing sports performance enhancement and the functional training concept within the baseball community. This includes, but is not limited to coaches, athletes, sports medicine and strength professionals, scouts, and parents.
The goals of baseballstrengthcoaching.com will be to facilitate the improvement of athletic performance in the game of baseball, promote the sports medicine and performance enhancement professions, and provide up-to-date education programs to both the professional and general sports communities.
When fully up and running, baseballstrengthcoaching.com will provide the following services: a free online journal / newsletter / blog, professional resources and networking, on-line continuing education programs / courses, sports-specific seminars / presentations / courses, sports performance camps / coaching / training programs, and consulting programs.
The journal contributors and partners will be industry professionals with expertise and experience in all facets of the game of baseball. They will be responsible for producing articles and on-line opinion editorials in the areas of Sports Medicine, Athletic Training, Strength and Conditioning, Physical Therapy, Sports Nutrition, Sports Psychology, Sports Vision, and Coaching.
Baseballstrengthcoaching.com's inaugural edition is scheduled to launch in February 2010! It will feature articles about shoulder injury prevention, throwing programs, in-season performance training, and college recruiting.
Be sure to bookmark baseballstrengthcoaching.com!
David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
C0-Founder
baseballstrengthcoaching.com
That got me thinking. I have always emphasized educating the particular athletes that I was directly involved with training regarding total player development strategies and fine-tuning skill training for performance enhancement. But, I was missing a whole other population of coaches, athletes, and sports performance professionals that are also involved with teaching and training athletes. Baseballstrengthcoaching.com is now going through some construction. No longer is my focus purely on providing on-line training programs for baseball athletes. The "New and Improved" baseballstrengthcoaching.com is dedicated to further advancing sports performance enhancement and the functional training concept within the baseball community. This includes, but is not limited to coaches, athletes, sports medicine and strength professionals, scouts, and parents.
The goals of baseballstrengthcoaching.com will be to facilitate the improvement of athletic performance in the game of baseball, promote the sports medicine and performance enhancement professions, and provide up-to-date education programs to both the professional and general sports communities.
When fully up and running, baseballstrengthcoaching.com will provide the following services: a free online journal / newsletter / blog, professional resources and networking, on-line continuing education programs / courses, sports-specific seminars / presentations / courses, sports performance camps / coaching / training programs, and consulting programs.
The journal contributors and partners will be industry professionals with expertise and experience in all facets of the game of baseball. They will be responsible for producing articles and on-line opinion editorials in the areas of Sports Medicine, Athletic Training, Strength and Conditioning, Physical Therapy, Sports Nutrition, Sports Psychology, Sports Vision, and Coaching.
Baseballstrengthcoaching.com's inaugural edition is scheduled to launch in February 2010! It will feature articles about shoulder injury prevention, throwing programs, in-season performance training, and college recruiting.
Be sure to bookmark baseballstrengthcoaching.com!
David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
C0-Founder
baseballstrengthcoaching.com
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