As mentioned before I have been working with several sports teams, groups and individuals at Carnegie at Leeds Metropolitan University over the last year. One of the groups I have worked the most with over the last few months is badminton - a nice group of hard working players! I have mainly been working alongside Sarah Milne, a talented 18 year old badminton player who recently competed in the Singapore Youth Olympics.
Less than 3 months before Sarah went to Singapore to compete she had a “small” surgery to her knee. I have been responsible for her rehabilitation and also getting her back to full fitness. I worked closely with her main coach James Vincent and Brendan Chaplin (S and C coach and supervisor), and used what I'd learnt to date to come up with a plan to achieve this goal.
Straight after the surgery Sarah had one week completely off training, to allow healing to start and the swelling go down. The first few weeks after this the training consisted of a lot of gluteus and VMO strengthening in form of glut raises, hip clams, gluteus exercises with resistance band and a lot of single leg squats in front of a mirror to control the knee. Fortunately Sarah was very strong prior to the surgery which meant that only a week after the surgery she was able to continue lifting weights such as dead lifts, squats, SLDL (straight leg deadlift), pull ups etc.
Less than 3 months before Sarah went to Singapore to compete she had a “small” surgery to her knee. I have been responsible for her rehabilitation and also getting her back to full fitness. I worked closely with her main coach James Vincent and Brendan Chaplin (S and C coach and supervisor), and used what I'd learnt to date to come up with a plan to achieve this goal.
Straight after the surgery Sarah had one week completely off training, to allow healing to start and the swelling go down. The first few weeks after this the training consisted of a lot of gluteus and VMO strengthening in form of glut raises, hip clams, gluteus exercises with resistance band and a lot of single leg squats in front of a mirror to control the knee. Fortunately Sarah was very strong prior to the surgery which meant that only a week after the surgery she was able to continue lifting weights such as dead lifts, squats, SLDL (straight leg deadlift), pull ups etc.
Underneath are some videos of Sarah performing some of the exercises in her programme; squat jumps, a deadlift, pull ups and SLDL (although not straight after the surgery!):
Badminton is an intense sport that demands aerobic and anaerobic endurance, speed and agility, as well as strength. Endurance was another aspect that had to be implemented as part of Sarah’s training. Initially we focused on straight line running on the athletics track, before moving onto more agility and badminton specific movements on court when we felt her knee was sufficiently recovered. Moving onto this type of exercise too soon could put recovery at risk, or worse cause further injury.
Being part of someone’s rehabilitation has taught me the importance of honest feedback about the injury and how the athlete feels. You can have all the training plans in the world and know all the science behind the injury’s stage of healing, but honest feedback from the player is important. This way you are able to change and alternate your training plans if necessary to suit the individual, rather than relying solely on the textbooks or literature!
Sarah came 4th which is a great achievement and Sarah is a living proof that hard work, commitment, effort and talent can lead to great results. Sarah has also been given the title “Player of the Month" September 2010 from Badminton England after her performance in Singapore. Check out an interview with Sarah here:
http://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/text.asp?section=903
http://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/text.asp?section=903
It is a pleasure working with such a dedicated young player!
Monica
1 comment:
Good stuff Monica, certainly done a great job with Sarah
Post a Comment