Leg Breaks

[Mofra]

Re: Leg Breaks

Will his gait ever be fixed though? By all accounts Stringer didn't have a smooth running style to start with. Grant has a bit of an awkward running style as well yet he is lightning quick.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Re: Leg Breaks

Will his gait ever be fixed though? By all accounts Stringer didn't have a smooth running style to start with. Grant has a bit of an awkward running style as well yet he is lightning quick.

Griffen has a lopsided gait too when he walks but burns the grass when he runs.

[jeemak]

Re: Leg Breaks

I don't think I've ever seen or heard the word gait in my entire life, as often as I have over the last few weeks!

Possibly a sign of the times, I suppose.

Unfortunately when I was 16 years old I broke the top end of my arm and dislocated my shoulder on the same side playing a school game in Wodonga (in September, after regular season games). I didn't have the same level of surgery or rehabilitation put in to me that Stringer has had (most likely because I was only a bit of a battler as a footballer rather than elite) and as such, when I started preseason at the Chargers in November I was extremely tentative about any contact drills I had to participate in.

As the post Christmas period rolled around, I gained more and more confidence throwing myself into contests, and with repetition coupled with trial and error I got that confidence back with sufficient time for preseaon trial games. Of course, if I wasn't such a fat bastard after a solid Christmas holidays on the food and probably too much beer I might have gotten better results, but suffice to say I didn't have any questions about my ability to head into a contest with confidence.

I know the arm and shoulder injury isn't as significant as the leg break Stringer suffered, I suppose what I'm trying to say though is that after an initial trial and error period I'd be surprised if Stringer didn't ditch the leg gaurd and just get on with things.

Potential setbacks aside, I really see no pscological issues for a player so young if all of his rehabilitation goes well. By the time he's 22 and four years into his AFL career, the leg break will be a thing of the past and irrelevant to him.

[jazzadogs]

Re: Leg Breaks

Will his gait ever be fixed though? By all accounts Stringer didn't have a smooth running style to start with. Grant has a bit of an awkward running style as well yet he is lightning quick.

I typed out a big post then accidentally pressed 'back', and it all got deleted.

I don't know that his gait will ever be 'fixed' in terms of returning to normal/pre-fracture gait, but they will be able to adapt it into an effective style. The main concern would be preventing overuse injuries that are caused by bad technique, but I haven't actually seen him run so don't know if this is a worry at the moment.

The biggest issue with gait training in an athlete is that it is a largely automatic action, so even if Jake performs really well during treatment when he can concentrate fully on his gait, he will most likely revert to his 'automatic' action during match simulation when he has other things to worry about. If it is just about strengthening muscle groups, that should be relatively quick and simple. But if it is about muscle control, making sure he activates the right muscles at the right times, making sure he is putting equal weight through both legs etc., this might take a little bit longer. I would be confident though, that if he is being seen every/almost every day by our physios/doctors/sports scientists, these changes will happen sooner rather than later.

[boydogs]

Re: Leg Breaks

The biggest issue with gait training in an athlete is that it is a largely automatic action, so even if Jake performs really well during treatment when he can concentrate fully on his gait, he will most likely revert to his 'automatic' action during match simulation when he has other things to worry about.

My left arm comes across in front of me when I'm running as I have one leg slightly longer than the other. 3 weeks of swinging your arms correctly in front of a mirror fixes it up, but then if you don't keep practicing it can go back how it was again.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: Leg Breaks

Wayne Carey had one leg longer than the other! Never bothered him much on the field!!

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Leg Breaks

Wayne Carey had one leg longer than the other! Never bothered him much on the field!!

It was what was between them that was his problem.

[KT31]

Re: Leg Breaks

Wayne Carey had one leg longer than the other! Never bothered him much on the field!!

That explains it all, Kelli Stevens was just making sure he didn't tip over in the bathroom by holding him by the handle.