The days once dominated by a slow defensive style are long gone. Today’s female athletes are faster, stronger and more intense.
These so called “girls” now play with the intensity and speed, strength and power as their male counterparts.
You say you want to make the team, get in the game, be the best? But fact is less than 10% of all athletes train to perform. Additionally,
athletes are less fit, and less fit athletes have a reduced chance of getting in the game and a much greater chance of injury, especially in
females. Many theories seek to explain why female are more likely to have a career ending injury than males and why athletic injuries
continue to rise. The factors are complex and our understanding of them incomplete; therefore prevention is difficult. What we do know is
leg muscle strength and the timing of hamstring firing are critical and must be addressed with proper weight training and biofeedback
designed for female athletes. Strengthening tissues can reduce the mechanical stress on the body that creates muscle, bone and
ligament injuries.
The number of females participating in all levels of sports continues to explode, and the way they play has changed, too. Two things we
know for certain. (1) NO ONE can compete with a serious injury. Athletes who cannot compete, cannot win championships. (2) Female
athletes are more likely to sustain non contact related injuries than men.
Females are competing at much higher levels than ever before and they expect themselves to run faster, jump higher, become stronger.
Female athletes who play pivot sports like VOLLEYBALL have an overall injury rate of 2 times that of males with an ACL injury rate of nearly 8
times. Fact: Over 50% of all athletes will become injured. Of those, an estimate 25,000 high school girls will have major ACL injuries that
will PREVENT future competition. Fact: Females are more susceptible to ACL and lower back injuries than males. Most of the things we
are doing with our female athletes make them prone to injury. The big question has been why and how can we prevent it. First and
foremost, we must emphasize the importance of PROPER and continued conditioning, execution, training and throughout their athletic
training career. Secondly, we must teach girls 10-14 the importance of proper training and biomechanics. This is the age range where they
develop neutral pathways.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR FEMALE ATHLETES
Why Should I encourage my daughter or players to train?
The answer is simple: Performance and Injury Prevention
Read the Facts!
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- NCAA data reports that females are over 8 times more likely to sustain ACL injuries than men.
- Recent reports regarding ACL injuries among female volleyball players are a particular interest. In 2005, 25 NCAA Division 1
women’s volleyball programs were surveyed regarding ACL injuries over the past 5 years.
- Fourteen programs reported a total of 26 grade 3 (complete) ACL tears of which 73% occurred during competition.
- Outside and Middle hitters account for over 85% of these injuries, where setters accounted for the balance.
- 64% of the injuries occurred during jumping or landing and non contact injuries. 2/3 of the athletes were wearing a brace or
taped ankle at the time of the injury.
- 100% of these athletes underwent surgical repair using the patella tendon grafts.
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Individual
Performance
Training
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Team Performance
Training
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See the Proof
Report Cards
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