After recently returning from the Basketball Australia National Junior Championships in Bendigo with the NSW Under 20 Men team, Sports Physiotherapist Matt Cranney has some pointers for keeping your body in check and getting through the week smoothly.
Often, it’s the little things or the 1%ers that help secure the championship!
Managing your health during a weeklong Basketball tournament
Sleep
This is the best recovery tool. Aim to have 8.5 hours per night – therefore know what time breakfast is! This is particularly important for those carrying injuries and prior to a double header.
2 key strategies to help this:
Ensure the room is cool and dark
Turn off your social media!
Injuries
We often expect niggles, corks, bumps and bruises during a week long tournament. We don’t want these things to get out of hand and limit court time for an athlete.
Our aim is to have 10 fit players for every game, from game 1 to grand final!Therefore, manage injuries early and properly.
***A week is a long time for a tournament, but only a short time in terms of an injury – every minute counts.
***Treat injuries optimally by talking to your coach/manager/physio asap and getting recovery underway straight away!
Shoes
I can’t stress this enough!
Bring 2 pairs of worn in shoes to each game!
Shoes often break, and it’s usually at the worst time!
Tape can only do so much when trying to hold on a torn off sole of a shoe
Be prepared
Pre-tournament Injuries
Get in to have your injury assessed pre-tournament. If you are carrying an injury or a niggle, you’ll be sure to find that it’ll likely rear its head during a week-long tournament. At a minimum it will decrease your performance, at worst, you will miss games.
Braces/guards
Ensure your braces/guards (e.g. Ankle guards, shoulder braces) are in good condition and not falling apart! It can often be difficult finding the braces/guards you prefer when on the road, particularly with overseas tournaments. If you need help picking the right brace or guard, give us a call on 4356 2588.
Mouth guards
You’ve only got one set of teeth. Bring your mouth guard!
Taping
Take enough tape with you for the week. Count the number of games and training sessions and take enough tape accordingly. This is similar to Braces, you may not find the tape you like or tape that is suitable where you are going!
Know your taping techniques – If you don’t have a physio available on tour, you will need to know how to do this effectively yourself.
Put the tape on early – aim to perform ~30-60 mins pre-game. The tape glue needs time to heat up and stick to ensure effectiveness.
Skin
Regular taping during a tournament can put a lot of strain on the skin underneath it. Be sure to look after it. Things that can help:
- When taking the tape off use tape remover or take it off in the shower – water can help loosen the tape. Make sure you don’t rip the tape off (it’s not a bandaid!).
- Moisturise the skin after showering
- Use underwrap or a hypoallergenic tape (e.g. fixomul, hypafix)
Pre-game for post-game
Put simply: Be prepared pre-game so that your post-game recovery runs smoothly.
Recovery
Recovery post-game is particularly important during these long weeks. The moment your game finishes, you’re preparing for the game the next day!
Post-game Cooldown
This is a simple tool that is often missed, especially following a loss.
It should take only 5-10 minutes, so take the time to perform your cool-down.
Hydration
Losses of ~ 2% body weight during a game can indicate dehydration and a decrease in performance. An easy way to monitor this is with pre-and post-game weigh ins. See the protocol I used below.
Prior to your warm-up, weigh yourself (preferably using digital scales for accuracy). Post-game, before consuming food or fluids, re-weigh and take note of the weight difference. Its recommended that you replenish 150% of what you have lost with fluids.
So, an example of this: If you weigh-in at 80kg pre-game and weight 79kg post-game, you have a 1kg loss. Therefore, we need to replenish ~1.5 L of fluid during our recovery post-gameNutrition
Preparation is key with this one. Aim to have a small post game meal ready to eat after your weigh-ins. We need to help replenish energy stores to prep for the next game! Make sure you will eat it! It needs to be palatable! Easy things I’ve used in the past are: UpnGos, museli bars, fruit, sandwiches, certain recovery shakes.
Ice baths / contrast shower
These can be done once back at your accommodation. Often athletes anecdotally know what works for them and I tend to let them choose what they want to use (after we’ve discussed options).
- Contrast showers
- 30sec warm, 30 sec cool, repeated 5 x
- Ice baths
- 5-10 minutes
- Hydrotherapy/pool sessions
- These can be a nice change of scene for a team.
- Remember sunscreen for outdoor pools!
- ~10-15 minutes, looking at similar movements to those experienced in your sport.
Compression garments
After you have done the key recovery components above, put on your compression pants/tops to relax for between games.
Staying together as a team
This is both on and off the court. Teams that stay together win together.
Own time
It can be a stressful week when your living with 10-15 athletes and coaches – be sure to take some down time for yourself.
Switch off
I think this goes hand in hand with getting adequate sleep and rest. Take time to read, listen to music or just chill out with a comedy movie.
Being on time
Often these weeks are very busy, make sure you know the schedule. I once read a mantra used by the All Blacks and it really stuck with me – “If you’re not early, you’re late”.
Your team is counting on you, and you on them. Show them the respect that they show you and be ready early. This especially goes for game preparation!
Know your schedule, but be open and flexible to changes
Don’t let the little changes disturb your mindset – there will be hurdles during tournaments, and how you face them will often determine how you progress through the tournament.
Most importantly………Enjoy yourself!
These tips can be transferred over to various sports with a few easy tweaks.
If you need help preparing for your next tournament, make sure you give us a call on 02 4356 2588 to find out how we can help! Alternatively, use the handy book online button below!
Helping the Central Coast Feel Well, Move Well and Perform Well!