Basketball sport specific rehab will stand out from standard physical therapy. This type of rehab will closely resemble the movements and tasks that a basketball player would regularly see on the court.
Basketball parents should see their child participate in running, sprinting, cutting or jumping training. The training then has to progress to using a ball. This is the only way to fill the gap between regular therapy and getting back on the court with their team mates. After all, suicides, full court pressing, change of direction and cutting awaits them. Are they safe, are they ready?
The answer lies in their training. In order to run better they have to practice running. In order to land from a rebound and pivot and throw a long outlet pass to their teammate they need to practice that specific skill. Then they have to come to a point of subconscious perception of their body and it’s positioning in order to return to their beloved sport safely. They need to practice movement just as their bodies would see it and feel it on the court. Notice I say “their bodies” and not “they.”
The game of basketball is fast. The athlete has to process a lot of information very quickly! While the brain is deciphering many signals at once, the body is left to function at a subconscious, automated level. It is comparable when you drive to work and your mind drifts off thinking. The mind is thinking about dinner and kids and work, while the body is driving. When you get to work you actually don’t remember driving past the Dunking Donuts that you always pass and yet you got to work safely anyway. Your body was functioning at an automated subconscious level.
The same goes for the athlete. It’s a good thing that when you were driving to work your body did all the correct actions: break when needed, gas when needed. But what if you were a terrible driver. What if you had a history of multiple accidents and as soon you drifted off in thought your body would crash the car. Many athletes when left to an automated functional process of their bodies just have a bad hard drive or bad information of what is the right way to cut, run, jump, land, dribble.
For an injured basketball player the sport specific rehab will start with slow deliberate, break down and correction of their movement patterns. We have to teach the athlete to over ride the often incorrect and deeply ingrained responses.
Do they run funky? Do they understand how to cut? Are they able to handle contact down low? We address these questions in the initial stages of basketball sport specific rehab. Get out your camera and your biomechanics books out. Because, you truly have to dive in deep to understand why your child moves how they move. This movement pattern likely predisposed them to the injury in the first place. In order to solve the problem at the root of its cause, you have to dive in deep. Once they learn what they should be doing they have to ingrain the new movement pattern into their minds. First it will be awkward, because it‘s different. Then it will become more fluid and natural. Lastly, they have to submit it to the subconscious mind.
They have to perform the same task at greater speeds, while tired and with distractions. After all running and dribbling the ball distracts the athlete from the usual running mechanics. Doing ladders for quick feet has to be learned to be utilized while shuffling on defense. We have to help our athletes make these connections. We need to reinforce that what we do in sports physical therapy is only going to help as long as it is applied in game or practice situations.
So how do you know that they are ready? By having practiced game specific movements with your sports physical therapist over and over. Until the athlete gains the confidence and returns to the correct movement pattern at a subconscious level of functioning.
If you are interested in learning more about what sport specific rehab looks like please check out the following article. If you are residing in PA, DE, NY, NJ please also consider checking out a dear friend and colleague Tracy Steven Peal for your child‘s sporting needs.
I see clients in Southern Illinois and Missouri.
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