KollegeStudnet Posted August 27, 2015 Posted August 27, 2015 Overall, the game will change in the future, but will always be a psychical game. Meaning, we know the protocol of the game and injuries will always be a factor Until the game is played by robots... Which will decapitate the losing team in triumph
billykaykay Posted August 27, 2015 Posted August 27, 2015 There is renewed talk about how to prevent so many serious injuries during the preseason. Seems like the same thing happens every year. Big time players go down in the offseason/mini-camps/training camps from simply doing a cut, running a route, etc. Every year there is talk about what can be done to prevent it. In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing that can be done. Its honestly irrelevant. Many of the serious training camp/mini-camp injuries, especially the ACL tears are non-contact injuries. They simply are over-use injuries. These players are constantly stressing the same body part over and over and over again day after day after day. Whether in the weight room, on the practice field, during individual work with trainers, in the offseason practicing running routes with their QB hour after hour, etc...they simply are putting too many miles on the the tires, so to speak. At some point, the tire is gonna blow. You only get so many miles out of them. Same thing with these ACL tears. You only get so many cuts/change of directions, etc before its going to cause excessive stress on it and its going to tear. There is nothing that can be done until they stop practicing and running and cutting so much from the time they are 10 years old. This "specialization" where kids only play one sport to focus on becoming really good at it honestly likely is contributing to these as well...instead of doing a wide variety of different movements in various sports like kids used to do, they are now doing the same movements over and over and over again because they are only playing one sport and focusing all their energy on it. Obviously every player is different and has different stress levels these body parts can take, but let's say for the sake of argument, you get between 350,000 and 500,000 "cuts" in your lifetime before the part needs to be "replaced". These are cumulative effect injuries over many, many years. There is nothing short of mandating the players stop working out altogether, like they did in the 70's and 80's when they had to get jobs in the offseason and use training camp to get back in shape, that is going to prevent them. Every time they get out there in the offseason and practice running routes, cutting, changing direction, etc, they are adding wear and tear to those tendons and ligaments. Obviously the more you practice, the better you become, but these players are practicing themselves into ACL tears after many years of doing it. But what can be done? Nothing---how can a player "take it easy" to help prevent something like this when his counterpart is training his @ss off? They can't...these guys are going to keep training and pushing and working, and this is the end result the NFL is just going to have to live with. This is the new normal. The more muscle you have and the faster you are moving, the more stress and torque it puts on the ligaments and tendons to hold those muscles in place. The increase in force is much greater than the increase in strength of the tendon from working out. I know, I am a complete gym rat, and I have had my share of tendon/ligament issues over the years. The tendons simply cannot gain enough strength to be able to adequately compensate for the strength and speed of these athletes these days. No one puts more stress on their ACLs etc than basketball players. They are constantly stopping & starting at full speed. I don't have any stats, but it seems that they have less serious knee injuries. Does anyone know why?
Saxum Posted August 27, 2015 Posted August 27, 2015 No one puts more stress on their ACLs etc than basketball players. They are constantly stopping & starting at full speed. I don't have any stats, but it seems that they have less serious knee injuries. Does anyone know why? Running on floor with sneaker vs on grass or artificial grass with cleats is a factor. Sometimes cleat grabs when you do not want it to from my personal experience.
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