ActiveBody E D I T E D B Y K AT E M A X I M
Supporting Athletes The relationship between athlete (even amateurs) and physiotherapist is a close one, Sarah Babbs explains
H
AVING SPENT THE morning handing out water and jelly babies to the brilliant runners taking part in the Stamford Strider’s Valentine’s 0k race, I have been re ecting on the role that support sta play in sport. With both the Six Nations and the Winter Olympics happening as I write, a lot will be seen of the physiotherapists, psychologists, water carriers, strength and conditioning coaches and other support sta . At the centre of them all is the athlete or player, supported by all around them. For the 2020 Olympics, 52 physiotherapists were taken by Team GB to Tokyo. Of these, 40 were involved in a particular sporting discipline so would be working with the competitors both in and out of competition. The remaining 12 work within sport and general physiotherapy and at the Olympics were looking after the athletes who did not have their own physiotherapist as well as the
other non athlete members of the team. Interestingly a third of all physiotherapy treatment in the Olympic village in London 2012 was for non athletes. From elite athletes to those playing for local teams or clubs, most of the work is done before competition so that the athlete is already confident and familiar with routines. This may even include taking familiar bedding with them to allow restful sleep, a key component of training and performance. An important study with adolescent athletes showed that those having less than eight hours sleep a night were 1.7 times more likely to be injured than those sleeping more or e ual to eight hours. The athlete will have worked with the physiotherapist on injury prevention, using strength, balance, exibility training as well as the more mental resilience work. This may be the most important element in training, the ability to have a positive outlook
regardless of the circumstances in which they find themselves. This might be supported by a sports psychologist if working at elite level. If there has been injury then working with tissue repair, controlling in ammation throughout the injury, monitoring and improving healing and progressing rehabilitation are key. This may be done with relative rest or sometimes in acute injury, bracing and taking the weight o a limb may be re uired. This can be very frustrating so having support to look at the longer term goals is important. It is vital to keep the athlete focused and engaged. Even for the most amateur runner, being told you can’t run due to injury can be challenging, so the physiotherapist will do their utmost to keep the athlete as active as possible. Using progressive exercise for reloading a limb is vital. eeping up not only local work around an injured joint but using what is known as the kinetic chain is important in injury recovery and prevention. This means loading through the whole of the body to spread the forces involved. or instance if someone has a recurrent shoulder problem when serving in tennis, it may be that the player has poor strength and balance in the leg. Each time they try to serve, the forces are too high in the shoulder because the leg is not taking the load correctly. Working on this will often mean that the shoulder becomes injury free. Coming back too soon from an injury can have a damaging e ect on performance both in the short and long term. A recent study showed that returning to contact sport earlier than nine months after an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) repair has a big risk of re injury which is very di cult to hear for a keen football player. This is when education and both physical and mental support are vital. Often the later return to performance will be managed by a Strength and Conditioning Coach following the physiotherapist’s role. Ultimately the relationship and understanding between coach, therapist and athlete are probably the most important things in their ability to perform at the top of their game. To contact Sarah ring 07780 900201.
April 2020 / theactivemag.com
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