Why All The Injuries: Who's To Blame

[RockyMTblue2]

I bring it up because it keeps coming up. Like this from Back 2 Sports piece here. But in a pretty thorough overview he pretty much debunks the notion that there is a source in the program.

 

[cohenzone]

There is a need some people have to find “blame” for some things that are simply the way it goes. The one way to avoid sports related joint type injuries and bone breaks is to stop playing sports. We have darn few players missing time for muscle pulls or other possible lack of conditioning issues. Schools like UConn have top notch training staff and equipment.

 

[JellyBean]

I saw that video this morning. I saw the title and got heated but then I watched, and I felt better. Nobody is to blame because there are so many other factors to consider. Injures happen. Heck players get injured just from walking in the cafeteria. Are we going to blame the cafeteria workers?

 

[BRS24]

Gifted article:

Paige Bueckers backs strength coach as UConn women’s basketball searches for answers to injury woes

Injuries have plagued UConn women’s basketball for three seasons, but Geno Auriemma and his team are standing by their staff as they seek answers.

www.courant.com

"The near-constant losses have baffled the UConn sports science staff, which Auriemma described as the “most comprehensive that we’ve ever had.” The program has even sought external opinions, exploring potential explanations ranging from the way players lift weights to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.​

​

“We talked to someone who, that’s their job. They study these world analytics and data .. and we asked them about what the trend is with the injury situation around the country,” Auriemma said. “The first question they asked was how many of these kids have had COVID. I had never thought of that, and we said all of them. When you look at it, this is when it all started four years ago. It’s weird.”​

​

UConn athletic director David Benedict told The Courant he stands behind the Huskies’ preventative care team, from strength coaches to athletic trainers. He noted the team’s issues aren’t coming from the types of injuries that are typically associated with poor conditioning."​

 

[huskeynut]

Very simply, injuries happen. There is no rhythm or reason.

History tells us the knee joint is one of the weakest joints in the body. UConn has a long and I believe a successful history of working to strengthen the knee joints.

Azzi and Aubrey - second ACL's on the same knee. Azzi's mom had knee surgeries. Does heredity play into this? Who knows for sure. But I think it might.

Does all the playing these girls do from a young age play into these knee injuries? That has been discussed on this board.

The concept of COVID playing a role I hadn't thought of. Still so many unanswered questions about COVID, the vaccines and their long term effects on people of all ages. Who knows? Will there every be a definitive answer?

For those who like to point fingers, it does no good.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Doubt it's a Covid issue. Aubrey and Azzi had ACLs before Covid and now also have one after in the same knees. Having a prior injury seems to be a good indicator you'll eventually have another. Shea Ralph and Caroline Doty are others that come to mind with repeated ACL injuries. Knees are kind of like back issues it seems in that you'll have to deal with it for the rest of your life in one way or another even after you're "healed." I think genetics plays a big role in a lot of what ails people.

 

[uconnfan68]

Doubt it's a Covid issue. Aubrey and Azzi had ACLs before Covid and now also have one after in the same knees. Having a prior injury seems to be a good indicator you'll eventually have another. Shea Ralph and Caroline Doty are others that come to mind with repeated ACL injuries. Knees are kind of like back issues it seems in that you'll have to deal with it for the rest of your life in one way or another even after you're "healed." I think genetics plays a big role in a lot of what ails people.

When in doubt, blame your ancestry.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Doubt it's a Covid issue. Aubrey and Azzi had ACLs before Covid and now also have one after in the same knees. Having a prior injury seems to be a good indicator you'll eventually have another. Shea Ralph and Caroline Doty are others that come to mind with repeated ACL injuries. Knees are kind of like back issues it seems in that you'll have to deal with it for the rest of your life in one way or another even after you're "healed." I think genetics plays a big role in a lot of what ails people.

True. Females had high rates of ACL injuries prior to covid and they continue to have high rates after covid.

 

[Blond D.]

A lot of the knee injuries have to do with the fact that women are kinda knock-kneed due to a women's build. Wider hips tend to do that to women. Some women have a straight up and down angle toi their legs and others, the ones who have an angle (knees inside the hips and feet) tend to have more knee injuries.

 

[CL82]

Are we going to blame the cafeteria workers?

Probably not. Bacon and jalapeño mac & cheese guy, maybe, but not the cafeteria workers.

 

[CL82]

True. Females had high rates of ACL injuries prior to covid and they continue to have high rates after covid.

I'm sure there's been a study somewhere, but is there a definitive answer as to why that is? My gut reaction is that since men, typically, have more muscle mass, that may aid joint stability and help by allowing the transmission of lateral forces to be born by something more than ligaments, but I have no idea if the science actually backs that up.

 

[Rowdy831]

I coached female athletes and had a few that had ACL injuries. The interesting thing about them was they were usually on the most fit players and almost all of them were undetectable when they happened, other than the player going down and clutching the knee area. What I was told by medical specialist from the sports world was when athletes put on muscle and weight it puts way more stress on the knee and that while they strengthen muscles it does not strengthen the knee.

If the issue is not more prevalent with UConn athletes than others then it is most likely the luck of the draw. If they have a higher level of injury then I do think it is something in their training and it must be found out. From the outside, with no knowledge of knee injury statistics in WCBB, I think their rate of injury is quite high compared to others. As a coach it is on Geno's shoulders to figure out a prudent solution to this problem.

 

[Rich]

We know a few things about this year’s crop of injured players:

-Fudd previously tore her ACL in high school and really has had all sorts of physiological issues pop up prior to this season;
-Patterson has had patellar issues dating back to high school;
-Griffin also tore her ACL in high school and has well documented spinal issues.

Ergo and therefore, the UCONN women’s’ basketball team is simply the latest graphic example of the old saw that The Best Predictor of Future Injuries is Prior Injuries (otherwise known as the New York Yankees Theorem).

My advice to G.A.: If possible -and sometimes you have to compromise, I get that - put more focus a high school or transfer’s medical history before offering a scholarship. You can’t do anything about the maladies that hit Bueckers or back in the day Shea Ralph. But more aggressive screening for new players is imperative.

 

[Aluminny69]

I think part of the problem is that women are bigger, stronger, faster than years past. The constant stop/starts might lead to injuries. Just my two cents.

 

[Notyetready]

I blame combinatorial mathematics. Life has uneven distributions which are complicated by random events. So let's move on.

 

[Longtime fan]

I saw that video this morning. I saw the title and got heated but then I watched, and I felt better. Nobody is to blame because there are so many other factors to consider. Injures happen. Heck players get injured just from walking in the cafeteria. Are we going to blame the cafeteria workers?

You can't blame the cafeteria but you can blame the food.

 

[Cuango]

I saw that video this morning. I saw the title and got heated but then I watched, and I felt better. Nobody is to blame because there are so many other factors to consider. Injures happen. Heck players get injured just from walking in the cafeteria. Are we going to blame the cafeteria workers?

I once ran a pool hall in Anchorage, Alaska. One winter morning I was looking out the window at the parking lot and some guy got out of his car and started toward the entrance. After about three steps, he slipped on the ice that covered the entire parking lot, his feet flew up and he landed (so I thought) on his back. I ran out to help him and he was unresponsive. We called an ambulance but later found out he never woke up and was eventually disconnected from life support by his family.
People can survive things that are incomprehensibly brutal, and damaging, and die simply because they slipped on ice. Life is both incredibly strong and frighteningly weak and though it comforts us to find reasons and assign blame when bad things happen, sometimes, many times, there is none to be found. Our injury nightmare has been the worst I’ve ever seen, but I don’t believe it is anything more than an (extended) run of freakishly bad luck!

 

[topogigio]

The knee is a joint, specifically a hinge joint, which like all joints eventually wear out. Think about all the people you know with knee and hip replacement. Most of them are older, and their joints simply wore out from years of use. As for these young athletes, they are playing and practicing the same sport, with the same movements year round at an intense level. Their muscle and skeletal systems are still growing/developing. Quite simply, their joints are giving out from overuse/stress/trauma. No mystery, just common sense.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Over the years Geno has touched on how players putting themselves in troublesome situations contributes to injuries, not just within his program. You can never second-guess a players desire to make a play or stop an opponent who has a step or two on them but I looked at the play which caused Aubrey’s recent ACL injury, and for the life of me I wondered ‘did she have to go after the kid who had her beat to the basket, given the score of the game at the time?’ Yes, I’ll hear the ‘how can you stop the competitive spirit of any kid, especially someone of Aubrey’s grit and determination’, but it does make you (me) stop and wonder.

 

[Bigboote]

"Don't find fault, find a solution."
-- Henry Ford

 

[Ralph]

My best guess, virtually all our recruits are tops, so they play year round in AAU, FIBA, whatever. They never rest the joint. And they play "hard" when they play, and when they practice. It is what it is. I think Geno encourages them to get some time off when they are here, but in high school they are on their own and they know they are invincible. Are think are more and more games outside the regular season. Lock the players up in a padded cell for a few weeks each summer, tied to a bed so they can't jump.

 

[DTtheGOAT]

The thing that bothers me is that when Griffin had her back surgery, she had been hurt since March, but was “two weeks away” from coming back to practice for a month beforehand.

When Azzi got hurt this year, I believe there was a quote in the piece talking to her parents from a doctor saying that her knee was probably still messed up from last year.

Lou was drafted with a knee so bad that she missed her entire WNBA rookie year.

Ducharme has a history of concussions, gets hit in the head twice in Europe, but starts the season even though she was apparently having trouble watching TV and turbulence was enough to force her to shut down once and for all.

Some injuries are freak injuries. Griffin’s knee this year? Twist and torque. Dorka falling and breaking her arm? Obviously terrible luck. El Alfy getting hurt internationally? Could happen anytime. But some of these feel like players feeling like they have to play when they’re hurt.

 

[fomalhaut]

Might be a Nobel Prize waiting for anyone who can solve this problem.

 

[and one]

My best guess, virtually all our recruits are tops, so they play year round in AAU, FIBA, whatever. They never rest the joint. And they play "hard" when they play, and when they practice. It is what it is. I think Geno encourages them to get some time off when they are here, but in high school they are on their own and they know they are invincible. Are think are more and more games outside the regular season. Lock the players up in a padded cell for a few weeks each summer, tied to a bed so they can't jump.

Over the years I've heard trainers say that young athletes do better injury wise when they play a variety of sports, which develops different muscle groups. As Ralph suggests, the good players are funnelled into one sport from an early age. Instead of rotating sports from one season to the next over s school year - for instance basketball, track, and soccer - for too many kids it's just one sport. I don't know how well the data supports this but it makes sense to me.