Netball
Netball is a game reliant on muscular endurance with bursts of rapid acceleration to “break free” from an opponent, sudden and rapid changes in direction in combination with jumping to receive a pass, intercept a ball or rebound after attempting a goal (Steele and Milburn 1987).
Netball is no longer considered a non – contact sport and thus with the combination of power, speed and poise that Netball requires places many demands on the bodies of players, as a result, injuries can and do occur.
What are the Common Causes and Types of Netball Injuries?
- Adult netball players most often sustain injuries to the ankles, knees and hands.
- Child injury is most often to the hands and/or particularly to the fingers, followed by the ankle.
- Knee injuries are generally the most severe and costly injuries associated with netball, quite often resulting in the longest time off Netball.
- Overall, netball injuries are mostly sprains and strains with the exception of finger injuries that tend to be fractures or dislocations.
Falls, incorrect landing, over-exertion, fatigue, overuse, collisions with other players and being struck by the ball are common causes of injury.
The Physiotherapy2fit team of specialists Physiotherapists will:
- Diagnose the injury
- Provide advice on rehabilitation and length of healing
- Promote healing of the injured tissues and to control the inflammation and pain
- Thoroughly rehabilitate the injury restoring full flexibility, strength, balance & proprioception and correcting any muscle imbalances that may have developed
- Provide individual sport specific exercise programmes
- Use sport-specific functional testing and rehabilitation to ensure that you are ready to return to training and competition
- Discuss strategies to reduce recurrence of the injury
If proper management is not undertaken, you may return to playing too soon despite instability, lack of mobility, proprioceptive disturbance and muscle weakness. This will greatly enhance the risk of prolonged pain and re-injury. This ultimately affects your performance for the length of time you are not properly rehabilitated.
For ongoing structured, supervised exercise excellent for becoming ‘netball-fit’ you could join our Pilates and Fitness Conditioning classes. These are fun small group classes that incorporate small equipment including the BOSU, gym balls and resistance apparatus to challenge balance, tone and build muscle strength without losing flexibility. The maximum class number is 6 so you can be sure to get individual attention throughout ensuring you are performing exercises for the full benefit.
“Do you have a fracture?”
One of the latest technology advances of modern Physiotherapy is the introduction of LIPUS. This new technology is able to reduce your healing time by up to 50%. Thats 3 weeks instead of 6!
The sound pressure stimulation provided by the LIPUS (Low Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound) system accelerates the formation and union of fractured bone and promotes rapid recovery.
Research has shown LIPUS significantly reduces healing time compared to placebos.
Used by all premiership football clubs and the MoD this is cutting edge technology which is only offered as a last resort on the NHS.
Book an appointment today for and initial consultation and then hire our machine for daily use at home.