I am so sorry about my lack of posting this fall. Tons of stuff to get to, just haven't had the spare time to sit down and put any coherent thoughts together.
I probably use the least amount of athletic tape of any ATC here in northeastern N.J.- about 25 cases of 1.5" Zonas Speedpack per school year. In comparison, some of my colleagues go through 60-80 cases- all that wind up in the garbage and finally in that landfill in Staten Island that is large enough to be seen from outer space now. But my athletes are no different, they want to look like the kids from the other schools and the guys on TV. So they sneak in and steal some tape to spat their shoes because I refuse to do it. I feel bad- most of the teams we play even have fashion team color spatting! Of course I tell them there is no evidence what so ever that spatting is effective and it's a waste of money and time.
Why would you want to inhibit ankle motion- especially dorsiflexion? How can you play low and get underneath your opponent and knock them off their feet if the knees can't translate over the toes? Yet many of my American footballers would have a tough time passing the PCA test for ankle dorsiflexion.
Natrally the healing ankle requires support. Most ankle braces do their job, but aren't of a low enough profile to fit inside the shoe without distorting it or causing blisters (the ASO comes close). I've been experimenting with a technique that uses 4-5 strips (specific to the injury) of Coverroll Stretch and Leukotape P. If you cut the strips ahead of time, with a little practice you can apply it just as fast as a traditional Gibney Basket Weave. If the ankle is shaven, all lotions removed from the skin and pre-treated with Cramer Tough Skin, the tape will usually stay on 2-3 days. As long as they don't go swimming or sit in a bath, I instruct them to blot it dry with some paper towel after they towel off from the shower.
Go ahead and give it a try and let me know what you think!
4 comments:
Very nice, may have to try it. I too refuse to spat as it became too time consuming pregame to spat 10 guys along with taping 20 other ankles. In fact, we have even limited whom exactly we even tape.
I found your blog through a friend and as a fellow ATC I was interested in this tape job. Can you post more specific directions as to the technique/steps you follow. I can see parts of it in the photos, but I'm not sure of everything that you're doing.
After seeing a marked increase in the number of kids I am taping this year, I have put my foot down and started telling the coaches and athletes "I determine wether or not they get taped." Too many times they come in for some contusion and want taped beacuse it "feels tight" or "makes them faster." I have never spatted becasue of the waste of time that it is.
Arrrr, exactly pirate ATC, don't be mindless.
Welcome aboard Becky! The tape job is from my new book, "Integrated Functional Rehabilitation of the sprained ankle" due out this spring. I kept it cheap (under $20) so it is accessible to all ATC's. I tried cutting/pasting all the steps but for some reason it gets distorted when I try to put it in the comments box, is difficult to edit. Hang in there, the book is in the technical review process- I hired Dan Cipriani, P.T. & biomechanics professor at SD state to rip it apart.
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