How To Avoid The D-Rose Injury Situation

Those of us who live in Chicago have lived through the D-Rose injury situation the last couple of years. It has sparked numerous debates over why he couldn't just come back right away after his injury and why he and other NBA players are so injury prone. I'm no expert, but having lived through two ACL surgeries myself, I may have more of a clue than others. Through my experiences I have learned that the best way to prevent injuries is proper foundational sports performance training that will teach you how to use your body to it's full potential for your sport/activity and also avoid movements that will cause serious injury.

Alan Stein, a well known basketball sports performance trainer recently sat down in an interview to explain what he believes is the #1 reason for so many injuries like the one D-Rose suffered. (Click on video to watch interview)

Stein points out how many players like Rose never had the proper athletic foundation laid in their younger years that would teach them how their bodies work and how they can develop them to get maximum performance while avoiding movement that cause serious injury. He says that back in the day we learned how to use our bodies through going outside and just playing. Things like riding bikes, running around playing tag, backyard football, climbing trees and stuff like that.

Today's youth don't do those things. When they get an interest in sports, they are quick to get in these structured environments where they are learning some skillls but are not learning how to use their bodies the right way. Unless the programs they are in include peformance training (which most do not) they aren't developing the sense of awareness of how their body works. He says we need our kids to learn how to develop a solid foundation physically that will help them as they get more involved in sports at higher levels.

He says parents often ask him at what age should their kids start training and his suggestion is around 8 or 9 years of age. Of course it's not weights at that age, but learning basic movement, discovering how their bodies work and teaching them proper running, jumping and other athletic mechanics. As a basketball trainer myself, I absolutely agree with him. When I get a new athlete, one of the glaring things I see is their inability to control their bodies while playing. Yeah they can play the game and some of them display some natural athletic abilities, but the overwhelming majority are what I would call "raw" (having potential but needing proper instruction).

I discovered this for myself after my second ACL surgery. Like D-Rose, my recovery process involved a lot of learning how to use my body properly. I discovered that I knew nothing about proper mechanics. During that process I developed a desire to train myself better. I had struggled with my weight for years but I continued to play more basketball than the average person (some would say I was and still am an addict) but as I got heavier my body started "breaking down" and I knew that I had to do something about it. That was about the time that I started training at a local sports performance facility that a friend of mine owns. It was there where I started to train along young athletes learning proper movement and athletic function. Not only did I see improvement in how I felt, but I saw my game improve being able to outlast and outplay guys half my age. Long story short, I saw the importance of performance training for all athetes. I was so impressed that when an opportunity to develop a training program at this facility opened up, I jumped at the opportunity. I had already been training basketball players privately for nearly 20 years at that point but knowing how performance training has helped me and the athletes I was training with, it was a "no-brainer" to assume the Director of Basketball Operations with Acceleration Sports Performance (www.accelerationlisle.com)

As you watch these high school, college and professional athletes become more athletic, you can bet that they are doing sports performance training. As more and more younger athetes are getting into it, you will start to see athleticism increase an injuries decerease over time. Not to say that we can eliminate injury because that is impossible, but we can help our athletes learn how to decrease the chances of getting into situations like D-Rose and other big time athletes with frequent serious potentially career ending injuries.

There are many sports performance training facilitieslike Acceleration across the country who are helping athletes reach their goals. Find one near you that has a proven record of helping athletes gain college athletic scholarships. Most facilities will recommend around 8 or 9 years of age is a great time to start, but you can jump into it at any age if you want to raise your game to the next level. I'm living proof of that, just watch this video made shortly after my 44th Birthday

Stay Forever Strong!