Michael Crabtree underwent surgery to repair his Achilles tendon that he tore yesterday, coach Jim Harbaugh said. Surgery was successful and we do not anticipate it will be season-ending for Michael.
I was called by a consultant a few years ago asking what system of pressure mapping to purchase and I said Tekscan, knowing that their reporting would eventually rise to match the power of their analysis. A simple screening of all of the athletes on a football team can greatly reduce injuries and track the research. It’s amazing how simply asking people if they want to be loaned a Fscan they say no, when they are complaining about pricing of equipment or lack of education. My feeling is that nobody wants to be making statements with risk to specific injuries. If you look at jones fractures in sport a pattern of risk does show up in the research, but specific posting are not easy, since orthotics are static and one has to do a few routes and cutting motions to see if high risk actions could amplify the pressure on specific regions of the foot. It’s not easy but it’s worth it.
Teams are not doing enough pressure mapping to screen the athlete. The reason is most are not qualified to analyze it and most don’t want to invest time or money, as athletes are not engaged. Simple solution? Broadcast the data on a giant flatscreen. Athletes are not dumb, they know their bodies matter. The problem is trust as well, since most athletes are being constantly hounded by promises of reducing injury and increasing performance. I bet the farm that the organization will make changes regarding data and injury over the next year, because they are not leveraging the bay area innovation. Adding force plates isn’t going to help much, as they are needing to keep guys on the field and not pushing the envelope with training being a professional team. This will cost the 49ers the Super Bowl, and the injury bug is beyond Bill’s topic about rates and reasons.