Beyond pace, there’s also the increased sudden stopping and twisting after accelerating. How do those things also contribute to these injuries? Gary Vitti: “Injuries occur when there is an imbalance in this relationship, especially if the body is trying to slow down (decelerate) and/or turn (torque). Think of it like speeding in a car. The faster you go, the more distance you need to slow down. Turn or stop, it’s the same thing with the human body. The higher the velocity, the more distance the body needs to slow down, turn or stop. If the velocity is high and the distance to slow down is short, it’s going to create more tension in the muscles and tendons to slow down. If the structure cannot handle that tension (load), the structure will fail at the weak link in the kinetic chain. We call this eccentric load. Dr. Nirav Pandya: “Absolutely it does. In general, when you see people get ACL tears, MCL tears or torn Achilles tendons, the vast majority of them are going full speed and then they have to make a cut or make a stop. That rapid acceleration and deceleration places a tremendous amount of stress on the muscles. That’s where you get the calf and hamstring injuries. That can eventually lead to Achilles injuries. In this 3-point era, you’re basically cutting the court down by 20-30%. So you’re going to full speed and then running around to create a sliver of space to shoot a 3-pointer. That is a lot of stress on the joints as opposed to the 80s and 90s when it’s isolation play and backing down. There wasn’t this desire to have to create space for these 3-point shots. So the torque and the twisting play absolutely a big role in that.
essentiallysports.com
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Beyond pace, there’s also the increased sudden …
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