Injuries… in a wider context

[ShockingBadBuy]

OK, this is what the man told me.

By way of background, he is at his 2nd PL club. At his current club he heads a staff of over 100 individuals involved in all areas of sports science. He is a medical professor and as well as his full time job he also has a very successful private practice in his country of origin. Most of what he said makes perfect sense to me.

1. In the last 20 years the game has evolved from being a technical game to one that is played by elite athletes. This is particularly true of the PL. Therefore players should undergo fitness and conditioning training as olympic athletes rather than as footballers.

2. Because of this, the risk of soft tissue injuries has increased hugely. Therefore, much of his work is about prevention rather than treatment and they are very successful at this. If they got more than 2 or 3 soft tissue injuries in the first team squad throughout the course of a season he would consider he had failed. He does not believe that having a large number of such injuries has anything to do with bad luck.

3. One of the things that has changed is that during the game players have less rest time between intense sprints. There is rarely time for a breather during the match any more. This can very rapidly move them through the amber and into the red zone very quickly. The risk is highest when an "effort" comes too quickly after the previous "effort".

4. At his previous club they noticed that players transferring in from other leagues were very prone to soft tissue injuries once they started playing in the PL due to the increased intensity compared to any other league. This is also true to a degree in the Championship - his first club was promoted to the PL whilst he was there. There is no quick fix for this. Overseas players have to be conditioned properly before they are able to play more than a bit part.

5. This next bit seems to be a bit counter intuitive, but he says that one of the most important things they do in training is lots of intense sprinting. He says that this actually increases the risk of soft tissue injuries during training, but conversely decreases the risk of them happening during a game. But it is all about timing. If intense sprinting is introduced before a player has fully recovered from a game the risk is very high. The recovery has to be got absolutely right and each individual will be different.

6. He says that this next bit is the most important bit. Who designs the training & coaching routine? He says that if it is the coaching staff there will be problems. He is very lucky to have a manager who is 100% bought into sports science and has a deep interest in it. Therefore the medical team are given the final say over the timing and nature of training sessions and when certain sessions are or are not able to take place. He thinks this is still fairly unusual, but that their results speak for themselves. His manager provides him with training schedules in advance and he has sign off over whether it can proceed as the coaches want or whether it needs to be tweaked.

7. This goes hand in hand with communication, and all departments and sub departments knowing exactly what is going on with every individual player at all times. He says this can be a problem because of the sheer number of people involved - coaches, nutritionists, doctors, physios, performance analysts, fitness & conditioning staff, psychologists, sleep analysts & others. Every member of staff needs all of the data and knowledge on every player, not just a part or parts of the picture. This can't all be done via meetings because all that would ever happen is meetings, but they use technology to the fullest.

8. Nutrition has been important for a long time, but there is increasing understanding of the huge role that the right sleep at the right time plays.

9. Desso pitches do not cause injuries. Injuries are caused by lack of proper conditioning and doing the wrong things at the wrong times, often by coaches who haven't moved on in terms of how the game has developed.

This is all I can remember. I really enjoyed chatting with him, he's a very personable bloke. I'm not sure if you'll feel that you've leaned anything from this but hope some of you find it interesting. If anyone has any (non flippant) follow up questions I'll ask them next time I meet with him.

Post of the year.

It should be pinned, and every poster blaming a single individual or department for injuries at Utd sent directly to it.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I don’t think so. I think it just means the conditioning has to be got right before they are thrown into 90 minute stints.

I’d say that no matter how much you condition some of our players, they’ll never meet the physical characteristics required for a PL player. Points to lack of knowledge by the recruitment team for me.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Post of the year.

It should be pinned, and every poster blaming a single individual or department for injuries at Utd sent directly to it.

It points to a systemic lack of idea, this is worse than it being the fault of an individual/department as it shows that as a club we have little idea.

 

[ShockingBadBuy]

It points to a systemic lack of idea, this is worse than it being the fault of an individual/department as it shows that as a club we have little idea.

Quite so.

It also shows how complex all of this is, as opposed to (for example): “saCk heckY HE’s crockeD oUr sQuad”.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

OK, this is what the man told me.

By way of background, he is at his 2nd PL club. At his current club he heads a staff of over 100 individuals involved in all areas of sports science. He is a medical professor and as well as his full time job he also has a very successful private practice in his country of origin. Most of what he said makes perfect sense to me.

1. In the last 20 years the game has evolved from being a technical game to one that is played by elite athletes. This is particularly true of the PL. Therefore players should undergo fitness and conditioning training as olympic athletes rather than as footballers.

2. Because of this, the risk of soft tissue injuries has increased hugely. Therefore, much of his work is about prevention rather than treatment and they are very successful at this. If they got more than 2 or 3 soft tissue injuries in the first team squad throughout the course of a season he would consider he had failed. He does not believe that having a large number of such injuries has anything to do with bad luck.

3. One of the things that has changed is that during the game players have less rest time between intense sprints. There is rarely time for a breather during the match any more. This can very rapidly move them through the amber and into the red zone very quickly. The risk is highest when an "effort" comes too quickly after the previous "effort".

4. At his previous club they noticed that players transferring in from other leagues were very prone to soft tissue injuries once they started playing in the PL due to the increased intensity compared to any other league. This is also true to a degree in the Championship - his first club was promoted to the PL whilst he was there. There is no quick fix for this. Overseas players have to be conditioned properly before they are able to play more than a bit part.

5. This next bit seems to be a bit counter intuitive, but he says that one of the most important things they do in training is lots of intense sprinting. He says that this actually increases the risk of soft tissue injuries during training, but conversely decreases the risk of them happening during a game. But it is all about timing. If intense sprinting is introduced before a player has fully recovered from a game the risk is very high. The recovery has to be got absolutely right and each individual will be different.

6. He says that this next bit is the most important bit. Who designs the training & coaching routine? He says that if it is the coaching staff there will be problems. He is very lucky to have a manager who is 100% bought into sports science and has a deep interest in it. Therefore the medical team are given the final say over the timing and nature of training sessions and when certain sessions are or are not able to take place. He thinks this is still fairly unusual, but that their results speak for themselves. His manager provides him with training schedules in advance and he has sign off over whether it can proceed as the coaches want or whether it needs to be tweaked.

7. This goes hand in hand with communication, and all departments and sub departments knowing exactly what is going on with every individual player at all times. He says this can be a problem because of the sheer number of people involved - coaches, nutritionists, doctors, physios, performance analysts, fitness & conditioning staff, psychologists, sleep analysts & others. Every member of staff needs all of the data and knowledge on every player, not just a part or parts of the picture. This can't all be done via meetings because all that would ever happen is meetings, but they use technology to the fullest.

8. Nutrition has been important for a long time, but there is increasing understanding of the huge role that the right sleep at the right time plays.

9. Desso pitches do not cause injuries. Injuries are caused by lack of proper conditioning and doing the wrong things at the wrong times, often by coaches who haven't moved on in terms of how the game has developed.

This is all I can remember. I really enjoyed chatting with him, he's a very personable bloke. I'm not sure if you'll feel that you've leaned anything from this but hope some of you find it interesting. If anyone has any (non flippant) follow up questions I'll ask them next time I meet with him.

Excellent post, makes a lot of sense, plenty of food for thought. Our injury problems have been severe, but a totally unscientific snapshot of injuries in the PL, from the Fantasy Football site, suggests that the number of players out injured currently for Utd is not out of line with that of most clubs, particularly as Basham, Egan and Jebbison probably have nothing to do with soft tissue injuries. Man City seem to have few injuries, Newcastle and Brighton have lots. Being able to rotate the squads may be a huge advantage?

 

[Bladesman]

Post of the year.

It should be pinned, and every poster blaming a single individual or department for injuries at Utd sent directly to it.

Every poster? I'd probably be sending that post to Hecky himself as it calls him out on some of the excuses he has given for our injury problems.

*Note: It still doesn't explain his player injury record at previous clubs

 

[Bladezz]

We had an injury crises that stopped when Hecky left.

Knill and Prestrdige should go and be a medical team one of the best sides. Our injury record with them is amazing.