Injuries

“We were sailing into the playoffs when our star player sprained his ankle, and then BOOM, we were eliminated in the first round”. Sound familiar? If you’ve been around the sports world for any length of time, you have seen it happen, probably more than once. What can you do to prevent this, and how can you overcome this when it does happen to your team?

First off all, conditioning is everything! If you want to prevent most of your player’s injuries, then make sure that they are well conditioned. Devote most of your early season to getting your players in shape. Figure out your players during the early part of the season. Do not just assign the entire team to run three laps and then attend to other things while they run. Make sure that out of condition players gradually work themselves up to game shape. Assign well conditioned players even more work to improve their fitness to an even greater level.

Never ever scrimp on warm-up time! Make sure that late arriving players go through a full warm-up period before allowing them to join in the activities. Many players are injured each year when they get to practice late and then jump right into high stress movements. Do not injure your players with over-enthusiasm.

Proper rest is vital to continued good health, we all know this. So how come so many coaches put their star player into the game and then him or her there throughout the entire game, and then into any overtime that might be required? Pace your players, substitute them liberally, especially in early season games and/or blowouts. Giving everyone a chance to play doesn’t just have to be a touchy-feely idea; smart generals preserve their forces for later battles!

So, what happens to you if despite all of your planning and following of these rules, injury still strikes? Well, make sure your player gets proper medical attention for sure, and never put an injured player back in the game just because he says that he’s healthy… players never want to say “die”, so be slow to trust the word of a highly motivated player.

Trust in the rest of your team to fill the spot. After all, if you’ve followed the above plan all year long, your team will be well conditioned, warmed-up, and will have had plenty of playing time to prepare for this moment. Slap them on the back and tell them to “go give it their all!” Read more...