If you scroll through social media or flick on the news, I’m sure you will notice news stories about different sports resuming with pre-season. We often see high level athletes starting pre-season training a few months before the season starts for their chosen sport. It is often assumed necessary for high level athletes to optimise performance, but is this something that can be applied to amateur and social sport as well?
Preseason training is a period, a few months leading into competition/season where athletes build back into playing. Often beginning with fitness (gym and running). Then moving into game skills; throwing, shooting, tackling and goals (depending on the sport), finally putting it all together into playing games before the season starts. Preseason training allows you to be both mentally and physically ready for the first round.
Pre-season preparation enhances your performance over the season and significantly helps reduce the risk of injury. Your body can prepare and adapt to the higher loads likely to be encountered during the first game. Think about it; a 8-10km run continuous is very different to 8-10km worth of running as stop/start sprints in all directions that you might do in football or hockey (less in other sports but same concept).
Pre-season also allows you to cement good skills required in your sport including tackling, throwing, sprinting, changing direction.
If these skills are of high standard, you can prevent injuries during season (ie. breaking bad habits).
Having time before the season can help you identify any niggles, aches or pains you may be carrying over from the previous season, giving you enough time to address them prior to the season starting.
At Good Country Physio, we have a number of physiotherapists who are passionate about helping you achieve your best sporting outcome. We offer convenient and local appointments where you will receive full assessment of your injury. We can also provide you with education and home exercise programs, this includes plans around pre-season or starting back into exercise/sport after a break.