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Stumble It!ALEXANDRIA, La., May 2, 2008 – If you are a female or have a daughter who plays sports, you should know that one out of every 100 high school and one out of every 10 collegiate female athletes will suffer a serious knee injury this year.
You should also know that those injuries are preventable.
“Sportsmetrics is an injury prevention and performance enhancing program developed by the Cincinnati SportsMedicine and Orthopaedic Center several years ago,” said Troy James, PT, MS, SCS, with Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Specialists in Alexandria. “I’ve offered this program for years and have seen significant improvement among the athletes who completed the program.”
That’s why OSMS is teaming up with Rapides Regional Medical Center to offer the Sportsmetrics program to coaches and athletes in Central Louisiana. OSMS is currently home to the only four certified Sportsmetrics clinicians in the state, with plans to train four more.
The program is designed for female basketball, softball and soccer players in grades 9-12.
“With this program we can identify those athletes who are most at risk of injury,” James said. “Then, once those athletes are identified, we take them through a six week course. During those six weeks we focus on jumping mechanics, strengthening, flexibility and neuromuscular training.”
Participants attend three, 1 ½ hour sessions each week.
“Female athletes have up to six times greater risk of non-contact ACL injuries,” said Jeffrey Garrison, M.D., orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine fellow with OSMS in Alexandria. “This is especially important since two out of three of all ACL injuries are unrelated to contact.
“One of the important facts in this risk is a lower activation of the hamstring muscles during sports activities when compared to males. Sportsmetrics training specifically targets improved hamstring muscle activation and strength during jumping and cutting activities. The benefits of major knee injury prevention and performance enhancement make the Sportsmetric program a win-win situation for coaches, athletes and parents.”
Research has proven that females who participate in the jumping program are less likely to suffer a serious knee injury.
An informational meeting for Rapides Parish basketball, softball and soccer coaches is scheduled for 5 p.m., Tuesday, May 6. A second meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 3, for the general public and other area coaches.
Both events will be held at Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Specialists, 224 Pecan Park Ave., Alexandria. For information call (318) 487-9838.