It's not too late

Now is the time. Yeah, I know…school just got out. But if you aren’t preparing for the upcoming season, then you are already behind.

Oh, there’s time, but don’t waste it.   Every athlete should be running, jumping, lifting weights, practicing their skills. You can’t wait until the season starts.

Actually, you should have your base of fitness already. Your season will be here before you can turn around. Now is the time to fine tune things.

Work on your jump shot. Your free throws. Spend some time on quickness and agility.

Time in the weight room will help you kick harder, farther, more accurately. Especially when fatigue is a factor.

Mileage is important but speed work is too. Everyone is a mix of slow twitch and fast twitch fibers.  You need to work on both to be the best that you can be.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” He was talking about fire prevention in early Philadelphia but it readily addresses health care today. 

Let’s start with overall fitness. We know that more injuries occur when you are fatigued. Think about the last run of the day on the ski slope. The 4th quarter. A track meet and you’re in your last event.

You don’t have to run a marathon (26+ miles) already to run a marathon but you do have to put in the mileage beforehand.  You can’t run a mile and then the next day run 10. Or at least you shouldn’t.

Fatigue may not make cowards of us all but it does make us more susceptible to injuries. You can over-do anything but you almost cannot be too fit.

What does that mean? Our endurance is high. Our muscles are well trained for the task at hand. We are flexible.

I’m not going to blame every hamstring injury on flexibility issues but I there is no doubt in my mind that you can reduce the incidence and severity of a hamstring strain by being more flexibler. Same thing for the Achilles.

Hear this clearly—stretching does not mean a few toe touches and arm swings before your workout. First off, stretching should be done at the END of a workout, not at the beginning. And the flexibility work should be approached like the rest of the workout—well thought out and thorough.

Pat Summit’s Athletic Trainer Jenny Moshak had it right. The Lady Vols would meet on the floor after every practice and game and dedicate time to stretching. You should learn from that.

Two more really important components of training as you prepare for the season are jump training and work on your core. We know that jump training helps to prevent ACL injuries. There is no doubt.

How your foot hits the ground is part of that. You should have that assessed by a professional.

I can never preach too much about how important your core is. Strengthening the hip is another huge component to preventing ACL injuries. The rotators of the hip help to control action at the knee when your foot is on the ground, whether from landing or cutting.

Don’t know what to do? There are good professional trainers out there. Look for one that asks you lots of questions, does a physical assessment of you, and sees the big picture.

Then get to work. Time’s a-wasting.