Sunday, September 28, 2008

This is what it's all about

The Minutemen won big Friday night, shutting out it's opponent once again. Even more special to me was my ACL reconstruction player cementing his starting job. He was 2nd string JV last year when he suffered the injury. It is particularly rewarding to see the physical transformation that took place with his whole body during the rehab process. He is leaner, stronger, & faster. We played the game in the rain on a wet, slippery field. I knew this situation would arise, so I tried to design a drill in rehab that would safely proprioceptively prepare him for this. What I came up with was walking, then agility drills on a grass hill in front of our gym with his sneakers on. There was plenty of slipping & sliding, but not so much that he couldn't regain his balance.
It's important to remember that proprioception deficits after ACL reconstruction have been documented up to 2 years post surgery (Corrigan, '92). This drives home the need for a remedial component in every strength & conditioning regimen.

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