What is the deal with all these injuries?

[Ken Krause]

I don't know what's going on these days. Maybe there's something in the air or maybe there's a bad mojo working in this area. But it sure seems like I'm seeing a lot more injuries this year among my students than I've ever seen.

Now, let me first clarify. These are not injuries as the result of the pitching motion or any hitting technique. Heck, some of them aren't even occuring on the softball field. But they are happening. I've heard of girls injuring their shoulders playing volleyball, breaking their legs running the bases, hurting their legs running into a fence, even breaking their arms falling off bicycles. The latest is a student (whose father reads this blog, by the way) who blew out her knee playing basketball.

I have actually always been a fan of the multi-sport athlete approach. I think there's a lot of benefits from training for different sports. But after what's been doing on this year I'm not so sure.

Is this just a local phenomenon or are folks outside my immediate area (North/Northwest suburbs of Chicago) seeing an uptick in injuries as well? And if so, are they on the softball field? And where or doing what? I hope it's just a coincidence or bad luck and that it will stop soon. Otherwise there may not be any players left by spring!

More...

 

[rowdy]

Ken,
I think it is the softball gods getting even with all of the coaches who refuse to build programs and rely on one player to hold a position, namely pitchers and catchers. When we have an injury we learn that it is not the end of the world, it just makes us develop someone else and rely on other areas of our game. We lost one of the most dominant pitchers in the area last year and it created a challenge but honestly if she hadn't gotten hurt our coach wouldn't have had to think outside his comfort zone. All players in all sports are putting their health on the line each and every game and you better be ready when one goes down, if not don't call yourself a coach.

 

[Ken Krause]

Good point, Rowdy. That's always been a philosophy of mine too, particularly because I believe players join teams to play, not just to watch other people win trophies.

An injury can strike at any time, on any player. And it rarely happens at a good time. You'd better know what you're gonna do when it does.