Kryptonite
Take home message
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR “KRYPTONITE”.
INCORPORATE DILIGENCE AND ROUTINES TO MANAGE INJURY RISK.
For Coaches
Help athletes identify their “kryptonite”, offer solutions and develop a system of management.
For Athletes
Watch for patterns, observe warning signs, ask other players and support staff, be smart and use routines and habits to keep the weaknesses at bay.
Kryptonite: (definition 1) green crystal from Krypton, home world of Superman. Emits a form of radiation that weakens Superman; (definition 2) weakness or symptom that can impair training and may precede injury in athletes.
Every athlete wants to be invincible, resistant to injury, and play with maximum intensity forever. But like Superman most athletes have their weakness, their kryptonite. Many are sport specific and S&C coaches will help reduce risk through targeted training programs. In my current group of athletes, I can skim down the roster and list a kryptonite for almost each player. A body part that will most often flare-up with too much training. Like the “canary in the coal mine”, kryptonite can serve as a warning sign and a need for greater diligence. It does not always result in an injury, it may just be a decrease in ability to train properly, to move well. Left unattended, it may result in time away from training (a de-load) or an injury.
Examples of kryptonite include recurrent shin or calf pain. A patella tendon that gets irritable from time to time. Lower back or hip pain or a niggling shoulder. These are frequent “hot spots” in my current group that rise up from time to time. There are the usual times when this happens - resumption of training after a break, a very heavy training week or a series of high intensity intra-squad matches, or those first few days of training on the road after flying (effect of plane travel, a change of pitch, sleep habits or routine). Some kryptonite are the result of previous injuries and are now body parts that require ongoing attention. There are those that are anatomical, the shape of joints for example that require more targeted, on-going interventions. The remedy can be as straightforward as stretches or strengthening exercises two or three times a week. If we know we are in for a heavy training block or tour, we may increase the frequency of intervention to daily if appropriate. More experienced players will be able to tell you what their kryptonite is and what they need to do to keep it under control. It may be calf strength, or a lower leg strengthening and stretching routine they have developed over the years of trial and error. Younger athletes are not immune, they are just less likely to know what their kryptonite is.
Image by @usgs | Unsplash
What is our role as an S&C coach? How can I help? For one, I try to know what each players’ kryptonite is. It’s part of knowing your group. Frequent checking-in and questions will help both you and your athlete identify regular issues. Connect the circle with all service providers to get the full picture. You might not always know what receives attention in the rooms before training, and other service providers won’t always know what is going on in the gym.
Second, I attempt to intervene. This is a multifaceted approach involving the athlete and members of the off-field team. For example, the remedy may involve strengthening exercises in the gym, as well as regular soft-tissue management. The inclusion of specific exercises at the start of a training session or within a gym session. It may be nutritional and require specialist input. I feel that in a few cases, stress has driven an escalation in sensitivity and required input from the coach and psychologist to help (such as exams, selection and contracts for example - be mindful of these periods). With gym based interventions, there are often a raft of potential exercises. I start slowly with ones that have proven most useful in similar circumstances with other athletes. Where possible, I try to expand the range of exercises to allow the athlete to explore which ones work best - some are better than others. This also helps for times on tour when perhaps the environment does not contain exactly what we need. We can go to Plan B seamlessly.
A third, and most important strategy (in my opinion) is education. Selfishly, I have a lot of athletes to worry about (and I choose “worry”, cause I do). Whereas they only have one to worry about. So if I can upgrade their education, help them develop a system of recognition and preventative habits, they can self-manage (which I think is the goal of being a coach anyway - self-management and behaviour change). A very helpful way I have found to increase education is to connect athletes with similar kryptonite. It is a powerful learning experience for a younger athlete with a newly found kryptonite to learn from an experienced player who has developed strategies to manage their signs and symptoms. Senior athletes are role models and I try to use them as often as I can.
Attending to each players’ kryptonite is high on my list for improving their performance. If they can train more and with intensity, without ailment, then that will lead to an improvement in performance. For developing coaches, try to develop quick lists of remedies for common issues in your sport. Learn about your athletes and what flares and try to link your common ones for support. Consider kryptonite as performance enhancing and also a measure of training intensity and how close to the edge your players and squad may be. For developing players, this is another opportunity to learn from senior players about personal management and longevity.
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Thanks again. BA.