Lost, Page 2

Re-learning your body

  This is the period when our player takes more active role in his recovery process. He starts with soft and mild exercises. During this period our player has to re-learn his body, meaning that he has to figure out the limits he can go to, the pressure and the pain he can take. During this process our player sets new goals every day; if he is able to do 5 squats today, his goal will be to do 6 squats tomorrow. But before he does any squats, our player needs to remember how to walk again, he needs to strengthen his injured leg etc. This process often includes targeted, everyday exercises that require patience.

  Patience is one of the key factors in any recovery and rehabilitation process. Sometimes players underestimate the severity of their injuries, they overestimate their abilities and injure themselves. Remember, if you were injured things change, and if your injury required surgery, things change drastically. Besides the obvious physical restrictions and exhaustions from dealing with injury and during the healing process, our player is also mentally exhausted. His whole being went through a major changes and shifts of priorities, goals and fears because he went from “being afraid to underperform in match” to “not being able to play the game at all.”

  Once again, it is all about the psychological state of being. If our player is positive and determined, it can naturally help him in his recovery process. During this period, player needs to “reinvent himself”. This means that the focus of his life should be put on trying to figure out how his body reacts to pressure; how much pain he can handle. The trick is to really know your limitations, not to think that you know your limitations. For example, our player is working on the exercise that will strengthen his injured leg and even though he is thinking that he cannot do it anymore, his leg is strong and able to endure a few more rounds. We often think that we can’t do or perform certain actions, but we are usually wrong. It takes a strong will to overcome those restrictive thoughts. Will is that force which drives you to reach your maximum potential. You can love something, be ambitious or feel the urge to do something, but will is the driving force of your being when it comes to achieving your goals.

  With enough willpower and goals our player is slowly but surely beginning to feel stronger every day. His knee is getting stronger, he is allowed to practice in gym and even participate in team practices. Being with his team again, our player is welcomed by his teammates and his coach; but things aren’t as they used to be. There are some new faces who joined the team, he isn’t getting the respect and attention as he did before the injury, team’s position in competition has change, there are new actions that he must learn. Once again, our player needs to stay patient and calm and take things slowly. After being injured, going through surgery and recovery process, learning old and new techniques and regaining teammates and coach’s trust and respect will come of themselves.

  Playing again

  After the recovery process is over, our player is finally able to play the sport he loves. Here I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of going through surgery and recovery process.

  There are some obvious disadvantages when it comes to playing the sport after being injured and one of them is the lack of confidence. Player might think that he isn’t good as he used to be which can lead to bad performance during matches. There is really no “cure” for this other than being mentally prepared for new challenges; the biggest problem is assuming that you will underperform because of the injury.

  Another serious problem is the fear of being injured again. This, again, is something that player needs to deal with on his own and in time. I would like to point out that fearing potential and hypothetical situations in sports is never beneficial because player often feel invincible before the injury and fragile after the surgery. This is again the problem of control that I’ve mentioned previously in this book. Player cannot control whether he will get injured or not. The only way the player can avoid injuries is not to play the game anymore; every sport carries in itself the risk of injuries. Fear and anxiety usually coexist together like moon and tide do.

  Player can also feel a lot of pressure, especially in his first match. He doesn’t want to let his team and his coach down and can thus feel more stressed than he should be. I repeat, being anxious, scared or stressed before the first match after the surgery is perfectly natural and normal, but nurturing those feelings during match can negatively impact player’s decisions during the match.

  When it comes to advantages after the surgery, some would think that there aren’t any advantages, but think about it for a second. “Surviving” difficult time and overcoming injury and surgery will serve the player in and outside of sport. Player is more matured, he changed and can even enjoy sport more than he did before the injury. Moreover, injury can be a turning point for some players as they become better athletes after being injured. Although undesirable, injuries strengthen player’s character and player often has to “dig deeper” in finding new motivation, setting new goals and strengthening his will.

  In the end, I would like to talk about the relationship between coach and the player. Not only that the player is under pressure when he returns from the injury, but so is the coach. Understanding the seriousness of the injury, coach is the one who decides when the player is ready to play again. Of course, athletic trainers and physicians advise the coach with regards to player’s physical wellbeing, but coach is the one watch the player as a whole being, his movements, his reactions and his decisions during the game. Player might think that he is ready to play and coach can feel otherwise or vice versa. If the player feels that he isn’t ready to play, he can feel pressured from the coach and his teammates. They can even think that the player is faking his pain because he is afraid to play again. These are all natural circumstances and situations that can occur when the player is injured. This situation can deteriorate if the player is one of the key players in the team. If the team is losing matches coach can feel pressured by the results and can encourage the player to join the team and play the matches.

  From the player’s perspective, my advice is that you shouldn’t play if you feel that you aren’t ready to play because it is ultimately your body that will suffer the negative consequences of potential injury. Ignore the usual “no pain, no gain” or “man up” paroles; you’ll know when you are ready. Instead, try to put yourself in coach’s shoes and try to understand the pressure he feels. Also, explain the coach why you aren’t ready regardless of the reason, whether it is physical or psychological reason.

  When you finally decide to play again, all those painfully and stressful feelings should disappear. It is your game, your court and your time to show everyone that the injury made you stronger, not weaker.

  These were questions I was frequently asked throughout my injury process.

  -Did you have surgery before? If yes, What kind?

  Yes, I've had surgery before a micro fracture on my knee at the age of 19.

  -How old were you when the injury occurred? And how?

  My sophomore season of my collegiate basketball career and I remember like it was yesterday, there was a fast break and my point guard passed me the ball, as I began to jump to dunk in midair, the defender jumped with me and as I tried to dunk on him body contact was made. I fell to the ground and as I began to stand up and walk to the free throw line, and I went down to shoot the ball I heard a loud pop in my knee.

  -How did you feel about going into surgery?

  Going into surgery was mentally very hard for me I tried to push it back in my head, I would try to push through workouts and see if my knee would feel better but eventually I knew surgery will be the only option to escaping that pain.

  - What were your alternative options?

  The alternative option was not performing surgery and continue to play but the pain was too intense.

  -What was it like in the hospital before surgery?

  Having surgery is tough and didn't really hit me until one hour prior to going into the surgery room. I was la
ying in the hospital bed when the situation started to become real as they start making marks on my knee, a ton of nurses are in and out of your room giving you information.

  -How were your coaches?

  When the initial injury took place we had an MR of my knee and the MRI showed that nothing was wrong with my knee. I was still feeling intense pain so I decided not to play the remaining few games of the season and as we came back from our final road trip my knee was not seeing any improvements. So we got another MRI which showed that I needed a micro fracture surgery and I did have a piece of my cartilage ripped. My coaches were very surprised knowing that I needed a surgery. The coach’s job to push their players, but I knew my limit.

  -How did your teammates react?

  A lot of the players were surprised as well I received a few questions as "is this optional? Are you sure you need this?"...

  -What were your thoughts on redshirting the next season?

  The micro fracture was a lengthy process I could be back as early as six months, which will be the beginning of the next season and as the time approached my coach and I believed it was best for me to redshirt the next following season to rehab my knee.

  -How did it feel to play again?

  Coming back to play was an amazing feeling. Running up and down the court and playing with my teammates was an incomparable feeling. I was in the best shape possible, due to the physical therapy and our focus on strengthening new muscle groups.

  How were you emotionally?

  There are a lot of hard days doing rehab. I've had times where I feel alone, forgotten and depressed. Quite frankly I felt like no one understood where I was coming from.

  About the author

  Hello readers, my name is Braxton Kynnard Tucker. I would like to thank all of you who took the time to read my eBook. A little bit about myself. I was raised in Tacoma Washington, I graduated from Spanaway lake high school. Being fortunate I earned a basketball scholarship and studied my Associates of Science at North Idaho College before transferring and earning a Bachelor’s of Science in economics from Portland State University.