How much sports training are necessary? The answer is simple: the maximum amount in relation to the game or event. Correct sports training cannot reduce the efficiency of any player, and it does not cause staleness, as is sometimes thought. Staleness is the bogey of all trainers and players. The player feels that his muscles are heavy, and his performance loses its edge; often he sums this up by saying that he seems to have no snap in his body.
Staleness is probably caused by psychological factors, although it is not always easy to find the exact source of the trouble. Some factors which are worth considering in this respect are given below:
(1) Has the sports training routine become monotonous? How often has it been varied?
(2) Is the player happy at home? Does he have regular and sound meals?
(3) Is the player completely fit? Has he contracted an illness which has not been diagnosed?
(4) Has the player an injury which he is trying to hide?
(5) Is the player mentally and physically equipped for the game or event?
(6) Is there complete harmony among the players? Is the team losing more matches than it is winning?
(7) Is the player unpopular with a section of the crowd?
When a muscle or tendon has been injured the structures are put through a full range of active or resisted movement, absence of pain (or slight pain on the final degrees of resisted movement) indicates that treatment can be discontinued and training started.
Before an injured player is allowed to resume sports training the damaged structures must be thoroughly tested. This involves both specific tests of ligaments and muscles and functional tests. If a ligament has been injured the structures are put on the stretch by passive movements, pain at the beginning or middle part of the movement indicates that further treatment is necessary, and training cannot be resumed. If pain is not experienced, or is apparent only when the structures fully stretched, training can be resumed and treatment discontinued.
When sports training are resumed the injured structures should be supported by some form of strapping, such as zinc oxide plaster, elastoplast, or a combination of both forms of strapping. The strapping must be applied carefully, without folds or creases; this is particularly important after injuries of the ankle and foot. An indifferently applied ankle or foot support can easily cause soreness or blistering of the skin.
To protect the part the player automatically holds his foot in a different position from normal; this alters the co-ordination of the part and may result in injury.
At first sports training should be relatively light. It should be increased gradually until finally the player is practicing all the skills and basic movements of the game.
The injured part should be examined the day after training to check for any-recurrence of injury; this practice should be continued over several sports training sessions. Whenever possible the injured structures should be compared with the corresponding sound tissues. Points to observe on examination are: swelling, pain on palpation and movement, and undue warmth at the site of injury.
