Making not breaking young athletes- Diary of an intern part 10

How proper screenings can help prevent injuries Jason Slade

Having been coaching with Excelsior now for a couple of months, I was given the opportunity to work some different athletes on the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) based in Devon and to assist in a number of athlete screenings, with Ocean Physio, both of these opportunities have been beneficial to my personal conditioning development and provided positive learning experiences.

It was great to work with different athletes, in sports that I don’t know much about, and not comfortable delivering specific training, as I might have limited experience and knowledge in the physiological and bio–mechanical movements required in the sport, an example of this is dinghy sailing. I have never been sailing so I couldn’t imagine the work and movement this type of athletes complete. It was Sophie’s first conditioning session with Excelsior and as she completed some basic movement patterns and completed a medicine ball workout, both myself and James were surprised by her movement and exercise technique. She had a great attitude towards training and worked hard.

On the other hand I did help condition another athlete who was the complete opposite, clearly very strong and powerful, but struggled to lift anything over his head, without causing back pain. The conditioning he used to complete was just aimed at stats, how much can you bench and deadlift? Being a common question most gym goers get asked. So the conditioning James has put in place in all about movement, and corrective exercises to increase his mobility, and reduce his pain in his thoracic spine.

Since joining Excelsior the importance of correct posture and efficient movement have been bought to my attention as a foremost aspect of conditioning, and this was backed up when I was assisting in a number of athlete screenings, (a female England cricketer, and a GB wheelchair tennis player) which I had just been inspired by.

The screenings are completed by Dave MacLellan at Ocean Physio, and James. The amount of detail these professionals go into was incredible, assessing everything about the athlete’s lifestyle. The screenings start off by an athlete consultation, just asking questions you find out so much about your athletes lifestyle and habits.

The screening also consist of standing postural analysis and movement analysis and this is an area that I would like to get more experience and knowledge in as it is so important and interesting. Each athlete is complete different, different lifestyle, habits and correcting these habits, such as leaning, or sitting in an incorrect position may in the future impact a negative performance factor.

In the words of James Marshall “All athletes are very different, all of the screened athletes were within 1 year age gap and generic programming not possible”! I am learning so much, and really enjoying working for Excelsior and with James, looking forward to developing the company further.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a pleasant New Year. Don’t eat too much!