Distance training

I have a friend who was here for the holidays and she is entering her residency in sports medicine. As part of her course study she traveled to every region of the US and observed and collected data on softball injuries at some of the best D1 schools. She shared that with me a small time pitching coach and lawyer. The highest percentage of injuries were to legs not arms. And the new age common practice to reduce those injuries is to stop the long distance running on non track surfaces.Some have dropped it all together. Most now train on indoor tracks or basketball courts. Gone are the days of running on concrete and asphalt.Think of the number of young ladies you have heard of with knee joint surgeries ,ankle surgeries and hip joint problems.They are still great players but for how long if they abuse those joints by beating them to death on hard surfaces to gain a small cardio improvement.Especially with all the research that shows bike riding, incline training gives you far more improvement in cardio numbers. We train these young ladies using techniques that were outlawed in wrestling programs. No longer can you have unsafe levels of body fat and hydration. Schools were forced to buy instruments to check for abuse and monitor that before meets. Yet, we assume to be a good softball player you must cut the body fat and all look like a twig. Amazing how some coaches judge a good athlete! What they are training is a future medical patient.

ks08 said:

I have a friend who was here for the holidays and she is entering her residency in sports medicine. As part of her course study she traveled to every region of the US and observed and collected data on softball injuries at some of the best D1 schools. She shared that with me a small time pitching coach and lawyer. The highest percentage of injuries were to legs not arms. And the new age common practice to reduce those injuries is to stop the long distance running on non track surfaces.Some have dropped it all together. Most now train on indoor tracks or basketball courts. Gone are the days of running on concrete and asphalt.Think of the number of young ladies you have heard of with knee joint surgeries ,ankle surgeries and hip joint problems.They are still great players but for how long if they abuse those joints by beating them to death on hard surfaces to gain a small cardio improvement.Especially with all the research that shows bike riding, incline training gives you far more improvement in cardio numbers. We train these young ladies using techniques that were outlawed in wrestling programs. No longer can you have unsafe levels of body fat and hydration. Schools were forced to buy instruments to check for abuse and monitor that before meets. Yet, we assume to be a good softball player you must cut the body fat and all look like a twig. Amazing how some coaches judge a good athlete! What they are training is a future medical patient.

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Good luck trying to get anyone to understand it as I have posted it before and the best walking taco got more hits!

One of my girls mother keeps me informed as to data and one more time.....leg ACL injuries for softball 31% and same injury (leg /knee ) 3% for males. She works at Children's Hospital and has an insight to this most of us do not have.

Can any of you tell me why this is happening to the females and how to prevent it?

I know I am being a pain in the butt however your daughters are paying the price for your lack of knowledge. It is not only at the high school level it is at the college also! By the time most of you will discover this it will be too late as the damage continues to be done and at around 18 to 23 years old YOU will see it happen! The damage started at around 11 years old and gets a little worse each year...ham string, quad, lower back, ankle, shoulder problems...what does this have to do with ACL issues? Look it up!

Ask for the same percentages for cartilage injuries? And the cause?

Coaches and their actions toward medical and training staffs is really out in the open now with the Texas Tech mess. And I think EVERYONE WILL BE FOR A WHILE. Coaches who still use stone age tactics will be called on it!

ks08 & Hitter---this is a great topic.

I would bet almost every elementary/junior high/high school in the state does their winter/early spring cardio running on the poured concrete floors of their schools. Pounding the cement up the stairs, down the stairs, along the halls past the classrooms.

What are some good alternatives? Most do not have access to treadmills or indoor track surfaces. You say that running on the basketball court is better? What should coaches do if the court is not available?

Looking forward to suggestions.

katjoebenmom said:

ks08 & Hitter---this is a great topic.

I would bet almost every elementary/junior high/high school in the state does their winter/early spring cardio running on the poured concrete floors of their schools. Pounding the cement up the stairs, down the stairs, along the halls past the classrooms.

What are some good alternatives? Most do not have access to treadmills or indoor track surfaces. You say that running on the basketball court is better? What should coaches do if the court is not available?

Looking forward to suggestions.

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Kat review this link for how to train and what should be done verses what is being done http://www.aclprevent.com/pepprogram.htm

Copy it and hand it to your trainers and coaches. There are reasons our girls are getting hurt more when it comes to ACL related issues however it never catches anyone's attention until it is too late. The damage is done over time and when they finally make it to the next level, they are bigger stronger and there is more of a demand on their jumping, landing, cutting and they were never shown how to do it correctly and they hear that magic sound and pain and hit the ground...usually out for 9 months minimum.

We see it at clinics all the time as we teach how to throw first verses hitting. USUALLY IF THEY DO NOT HIT WELL THEY DO NOT THROW WELL! It starts with how to get balanced and how to shift your weight.
The spine attachment point is different as to tilt male verses female. Females are more upright, males are slightly tilted forward. Hips are wider and knees are more under them causing more stress. Our knees fire slightly upon landing due to the firing of the glutes and the female does not. Their hamstrings are not as strong as a males either and this of and by itself is s huge reason there is not the stability in the knee area. What are the trainers and coaches doing to condition the hamstrings? However it can be taught to them by showing them how to land on the balls of their feet and flex the knees. Ask yourself why do girls throw like girls? They throw mainly with their upper body and why is that? They do not flex the lead foot knee or land on the ball of the foot and transfer their weight forward. They do absolutely nothing with their glove arm and do not finish across their body with their throwing arm. Then when you ask them if their arm hurts you know why! Lower back hurt? How are your ankles? How did they get to 12 years old and no one showed them how to throw! Look at some of your college teams throw the ball and you will see this is lacking at all levels.

This was a subject we talked about with Howard K when he was in town. I ask him how he could teach advanced defensive skills to kids that could not even get balanced or knew how to throw properly? He emailed me about three weeks later and had incorporated a few of our techniques and said it was easier to get his point across if the understood balance.

Try using the Wii without balance and it is too funny to watch...

I just wish for a few of you to Google female ACL injuries and pay a little more attention to what is and is not being used to condition your daughters!

We have kids show up who have shows untied, just stuffed inside their shoes which offers little support to the ankle. Shoes that are worn out and they are walking over the outside edges of the shoes. When doing any running the shoes do not provide any support but they have new bats and cell phones!

This is from you tube and may add to the education process



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6sorJlMr4Q&NR=1


http://www.aroundiredell.com/sports...t_solution_prevention_must_begin_at_early_age


This is from the article above


But before doctors or coaches can educate them, female athletes must understand they are vulnerable.
Of 13 female athletes who have torn ACLs interviewed by the R&L, 12 said they were not aware of the predisposed risks females have ? and that?s hardly their fault.
?Females don?t realize they are allowing their knee to collapse inward, that they are more susceptible to injuries,? Hewett said. ?You have to tell them.?
All 12 of those athletes, all said they were made aware of those risks after their injury happened, when it was far too late.
?I didn?t even know what an ACL was when I got hurt in eighth grade,? Lake Norman High School senior Lindsay Mannion said. ?I really wasn?t aware. After I got hurt, my doctor informed me of all that stuff. It was a big shock.?
The chance of tearing an ACL, Hewett said, skyrockets for females around age 11 during puberty when they hit a growth spurt.
Females get a physical growth spurt but not a neuromuscular spurt, which causes severe imbalances that lead to ACL tears.
?We have to get to those girls at about age 11 or 11 1/2,? Hewett said. ?That?s junior high school. How do we do it?
?We have to do it in the schools.?
Hewett implements programs at several schools in Ohio and some schools out of state.
He once received a frantic phone call from a girls basketball coach in Illinois who was distraught because four of his five starters blew out their ACLs during the season.
?The town was ready to string this coach up,? Hewett said with a chuckle. ?He called me up and we got in there and instituted programs. Over the next three years, they not only did not have any more ACL injuries, they won a state championship.?

Thanks for the links Howard.

This one gave good practical info http://www.aclprevent.com/pepprogram.htm but still looking for more suggestions on what to do if basketball court or other softer surfaces not readily available.

Are there other stretches/workout routines that can be of help---stuff they could do at home? It's a shame to injure the girls trying to get them ready for a sport.

katjoebenmom said:

Thanks for the links Howard.

This one gave good practical info http://www.aclprevent.com/pepprogram.htm but still looking for more suggestions on what to do if basketball court or other softer surfaces not readily available.

Are there other stretches/workout routines that can be of help---stuff they could do at home? It's a shame to injure the girls trying to get them ready for a sport.

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Kat the main point especially in the You Tube...it is not long distance running, it is teaching them how to land and jump and cut properly and that does not take much space and warming up properly. There are a lot of open gyms at this time of the year also. Communicate with your coaches and copy it for them and hand it to them. Ask questions of the trainers. Some have a mind set one size fits all and that is not true when it comes to male verses females especially when it comes to hamstring strength. You wonder why they throw like girls? It starts with hamstring strength, balance and weight shift.

The key is education of the athlete itself and the parent to recognize some of the schools are not helping the younger girls get started properly by just teaching them how to warm up. Some think the answer is free weights and squats by itself will help or incline leg presses. Unless you isolate the girls issues of poor balance, hamstring strength, landing, jumping and cutting will be their demise and sometimes the damage takes a while to manifest itself and then when you talk to the doctor you look at yourself and say I should have seen this coming...she said her lower back was bothering her, her ankles, knee, quads and shoulder. I thought it was growing pains, menstrual cramps, playing a new sports etc.

Cardio training should be kept to a minimum anyway. Speed training and interval training should make up the majority of the running. The interval training will better build stamina and aerobic capacity, and also promote fat loss better. Cardio training is just training the body to be sloooowww.....

Mine is a pitcher on break from college, and was at a spinning class at 6:00 am this morning. For those of you who don't know what spinning is, Google it. If you think you're in shape...

P.S. For pitchers, goals of reducing total body fat may be a myth, and could even be detrimental to their craft. I'm NOT a professional sports trainer, I just listen a lot to what seem like common sense approaches. BB pitching is different mechanics, but very similar in physical requirement to fastpitch softball. Some of the best BB pitchers in the world do NOT resemble marathon runners in physical build. I'm NOT saying anyone is, but just want to point out that you can't "cookie cutter" a training program for every position on the field. Just like football linesmen and QBs train differently, so should position players in softball.

Great comments. AS far as running hallways and stairs, you are right, most are solid concrete surfaces. And do more damage than good. We have to change the mindset of coaches on what makes a good athlete. Many were trained back when distance running was thought to build a stronger stamina athlete. Research today says we were all wrong. Howard , you are amazing and you are right. Keep spreading the word even if you think no one is listening.

And we wonder why many of us got shin splints. We were required to run 2 miles a night with ankle weights on a gym floor., then stairs/bleachers. Problem is , many coaches still have no idea how to correctly train kids.

SB I remember all that.
Hitter has alot of good points, knowing that girls are not built like boys.
They started a training program in our school called Bigger, stonger, faster. It's based on the sport you are training for and the kids get credits for taking the class.
We started more on short reps in conditioning (we're making softball players not cross country runners)
And nutrition habits, remember the body will rob from muscle when there is no fat and thats not good the next thing to go is the joints with no muscle support.
I was reading that that choc. milk is the best thing to drink after a game or workout.

Best thing you all can do is spread the word and educate even the most stubborn. But there always will be that coach who thinks he is right as he hobbles to his car!

Yes, on the choc. milk. My dd's high school team was given choc. milk after each sokker game.. Parents and kids were given a nutrition education and they had it posted along with correct training on the team web page. So many coaches are changing.

Any coach who uses female v male as a reason for his training better have a legal defense fund. That time of the month, body shape etc. is not a training issue it is a harassment issue. Would you kick Bustos off you team or embarrass her about her body shape? Would you call her a poor example of a real athlete? If anyone has a coach who uses that as a training method PM me and I will will put you in touch with someone who can remedy that situation PDQ!

SBFAMILY said:

Yes, on the choc. milk. My dd's high school team was given choc. milk after each sokker game.. Parents and kids were given a nutrition education and they had it posted along with correct training on the team web page. So many coaches are changing.

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Yes, I agree that drinking chocolate milk after exercise is very good advice. Chocolate milk has an optimal ratio of carbohydrates to protein to help refuel tired muscles.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/24/health/webmd/main1342839.shtml

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/superfoods/chocolate-milk-after-workout/

Epidemiology of Severe Injuries Among United States High School Athletes


The complete tables are not listed however look at the difference in boys verses girls and keep asking your coaches and trainers why?


Having coached both now in my opinion it is do to lack of knowledge of balance, weight shift for throwing and hitting, flexed knee verses rigid and hamstring strength. You see this as some instructors do not understand coming up against a firm side verses over the front leg and putting the ACL and knee at risk.

Another item is girls being hit by the ball verses 12.2% girls 2.2 %. How many coaches teach how to get hit by a pitch to their hitters? We do and it shows in lack of injuries to our players.


http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/37/9/1798

Baseball/Softball. Baseball and softball players
incurred 0.19 and 0.18 severe injuries, respectively, per
1000 AEs (Table 1). Baseball and softball accounted for
4.5% and 4.1%, respectively, of all severe injuries. The
most commonly injured body parts were the knee (16.2%),
shoulder (15.4%), ankle (14.7%), and hand/finger (11.8%).
Girls sustained a greater proportion of knee (30.7%) injuries
than boys (3.0%) (IPR, 10.34; 95% CI, 2.83-37.75; P <
.001) (Table 2). Although boys sustained a greater proportion
of shoulder (21.5%) and wrist (11.4%) injuries than
girls (8.7% and 2.5%, respectively), these differences were
not significant (IPR, 2.48; 95% CI, 0.81-7.65; P = .089; and
IPR, 4.56; 95% CI, 0.80-26.10; P = .05, respectively). The
most common diagnoses were fracture (47.2%), incomplete
ligament sprain (12.8%), complete ligament sprain
(10.0%), and dislocation (9.3%). Girls sustained a greater
proportion of ligament sprains (incomplete tear) (21.5%)
than boys (4.9%) (IPR, 4.36; 95% CI, 1.25-15.18; P = .011).
This also held for dislocations in girls (13.7%) compared
with boys (5.2%) (IPR, 2.63; 95% CI, 2.45-2.82; P < .001).
Of all severe girls? softball injuries, 68.8% resulted in
medical disqualification for the season.
Fielding (24.6%) and sliding (20.0%) were most commonly
associated with severe injuries. The proportion of severe
injuries associated with pitching was greater in boys?
baseball (19.3%) than girls? softball (1.6%) (IPR, 11.98;
95% CI, 1.54-93.55; P = .001), although it is important to
note that the mechanics of pitching differs between boys?
baseball and girls? softball. Conversely, batting led to
18.0% of severe injuries in girls? softball and 4.2% in boys?
baseball (IPR, 4.33; 95% CI, 1.30-14.46; P = .01) (see
Appendix, available in the online version of this article at
http://ajs.sagepub.com/supplemental/). The most common
mechanisms for severe injury were contact with bases
(21.3%), contact with another player (14.9%), and contact
with the playing surface (11.0%). Being hit by a pitch
made up a greater proportion of severe injuries in girls?
softball (12.2%) than boys? baseball (2.2%) (IPR, 5.48; 95%
CI, 1.11-27.03; P = .016).

ks08 said:

Any coach who uses female v male as a reason for his training better have a legal defense fund. That time of the month, body shape etc. is not a training issue it is a harassment issue. Would you kick Bustos off you team or embarrass her about her body shape? Would you call her a poor example of a real athlete? If anyone has a coach who uses that as a training method PM me and I will will put you in touch with someone who can remedy that situation PDQ!

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A few years ago I remember seeing a study that showed a marked increase of ACL injuries in young women who were in specific points within the menstrual cycle, the knee becomes looser than normal, and ACL rupture is more common.
I will look on line to see if I can find it. Training men and women certainly is different.

Here is one under the Ligamentous injury section

http://www.hughston.com/hha/a_11_3_2.htm

Good article here on the why`s and how to reduce ACL injuries.


http://www.ohioaap.org/files/Stacy Fischer - 4-09.ppt

We also teach girls how to get hit by a pitch, saves on broken fingers and arms.
Also, I've seen some travel and high school teams when warming up before games just going through the motions, this is not good on the muscles either.
Any one who has had a hamstring pull knows how bad it hurts, and it takes a long time to recover.