A while back I remember discussing injury and a fellow coach insisting for the move from injury to opportunity. At the time he meant the opportunity to do great rehab, overcome, and set personal records. While covering the proper bases to rehabilitate the injury is priority number one, injury provides some other opportunities that wouldn’t exist in the course of a normal season or training. D
Injury and Opportunity
-
-
Participant
-
Member
I can see where you are coming from with your view on injury as opportunity but isn’t it our job as coaches to have addressed these deficiencies such as flexibility or strength before an injury. In my experience it is usually these deficiencies that lead to the injuries and once they happen there is no way to address the cause of the injury besides basic rehab. I guess I am just to much of a pessimist to see injuries as anything but an annoyance.
-
Participant
I can see where you are coming from with your view on injury as opportunity but isn’t it our job as coaches to have addressed these deficiencies such as flexibility or strength before an injury. In my experience it is usually these deficiencies that lead to the injuries and once they happen there is no way to address the cause of the injury besides basic rehab. I guess I am just to much of a pessimist to see injuries as anything but an annoyance.
It’s not always lack of training qualities that cause folks to miss time (jaw surgery or a hyperextended elbow from a freak basketball accident are things that you may not be in control of as a coach or a consultant) It’s definitely nice to address things up front, but often coaches don’t have that luxury. Sometimes athletes come to you because they are injured. How many of your athletes have you coached for the whole of their athletic careers? Have you ever had athletes you work with where you have not years, but weeks (midstream and in-season there’s limits to the changes you can make with the time and adaptive resources you have) Do you ever get new athletes, that while competition may not be best for their development, they have to compete as their livelihood depends on it?
The other end of it is, sometimes there’s the nice to do and the what your situation allows you to do. You can have all the sports medicine knowledge in the world, but with limited to no budget, limited resources, and limited time you do the best you can (for many coaches, not everyone they work with is their athlete full time).
As mentioned in the blog, and this is especially true in the limited time and in-season cases, injury usually means you have more time and more resources (not to mention compliance) you can devote not only at addressing route causes, but bringing up other biomotor qualities. Tis better to be healthy, but when they’re hurt, they’re hurt. Then the question becomes what are you going to do with that situation for the betterment of the athlete. Most injuries aren’t grade 3 tears or fractures, but more minor issues that force coaches to be creative by safely shifting emphasis to maintain certain qualities and challenge others.
-
ParticipantI can see where you are coming from with your view on injury as opportunity but isn’t it our job as coaches to have addressed these deficiencies such as flexibility or strength before an injury. In my experience it is usually these deficiencies that lead to the injuries and once they happen there is no way to address the cause of the injury besides basic rehab. I guess I am just to much of a pessimist to see injuries as anything but an annoyance.
Not fixing what should have been done but working on aspects everyone can get better. You just emphasize elements you can do safely instead of feeling bad and giving up.
-
Participant
Great first post! Speaking from my own experience, injuring my shoulder has been both an incredibly frustrating but overall beneficial experience. It has been a great opportunity to improve all facets of my life. It puts things in perspective and forces me to improve, as Matt mentioned, lesser developed aspects of both my athletic career as well as my future coaching career. I am however glad though that my injury wasn’t too serious as I have been able to slowly but surely recover while reaping the benefits of a learning experience. Keep up the great work I look forward to more posts!
-
Viewing 4 reply threads
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.