Sound Achilles advice
It has to be some scary times for competitive athletes from all sporting codes during lockdown. And as if not playing the sport you love isn’t enough, I am going to add salt to the wound.
The Achilles tendon is a fibrous cord that connects the back of your calf muscles to the heelbone of your foot. It is also the strongest and largest tendon in your body. It allows for the movements when walking, running, jumping as well as explosive movements.
If research articles by Meyer et al conducted during an American football (NFL) lockdown is anything to go by, your chances of an Achilles rupture will increase up to 250%. In 2011 the NFL embarked on a national lockdown period between owners, players and government and this lockdown lasted 132 days, just over three months. During this lockdown period players did not have access to the club’s medical team or training facilities and were not allowed to speak to their coaches.
The season kicks off with pre-season training for rookies from April to July in a mini camp format and organised team activities. Pre-season officially starts with the whole squad in August to September followed by the four-month regular season. The season comes to and end in glorious fashion with the Super Bowl in February.
Research conducted between 1997 and 2002 found that on average there were two Achilles ruptures during pre-season and five ruptures per year.
During the 2011 lockdown there were an astonishing 12 ruptures in one month after coming out of lockdown of which 10 happened in the first 12 days. Common sense tells me, of course this was going to happen. You have taken prized winning racehorses and kept them in a shed for three months and then expected them to go and race at the same pace.
The conditioning at home even if you have a home gym is not the same as the training conditions you would normally be subjected to during weekly training. If you have ever been to a racehorse training yard, you will soon learn there is no slow speed. The horse has been conditioned to operate at high intensity, everything is at race pace irrespective of the time of year.
This is why their coaches limit what they can and can’t do until they are ready to open. Unfortunately, the assumption at NFL level was that everyone would be training hard.
Sure, they might have been sort of, but not specific to their daily sporting demands and positional needs.
What can you do as a player right now based on this research? If I were in your shoes, I would have upgraded my medical aid, perhaps got medical insurance and definitely found out about salary protection from a broker.
If for whatever reason you get hurt, make sure you have the necessary money paid out to afford the very best surgeons, rehabilitation specialists and backto-play performance coaches. The extra money you spend now is well worth the investment in yourself because just remember this...your career has a limited lifespan and there are hundreds of younger, talented players waiting to take your spot.