Download TRAZER® Sports Injury Prevention Program

TRAZER®SportsInjuryPreventionProgram
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By challenging the athlete’s musculoskeletal, sensory and cognitive
systems, sport simulation can serve as the foundation for effective
injury prevention programs.
Alan W. Davis, M.D.
Mark Schickendantz, M.D.
Barry J. French, TRAZER® Inventor
Edward J. Ash, PT, ATC, OCS, COMT, CSCS
RECENT RESEARCH CONFIRMS THAT
SPORT SIMULATION CAN BE A POWERFUL
TOOL FOR SPORTS INJURY PREVENTION
AND PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT
PROGRAMS. TESTING AND TRAINING THE
MIND AND BODY TOGETHER IS THE KEY.
Serious, season-ending knee injuries are
epidemic in sport. A lack of effective movement
training and inefficient biomechanics can
predispose athletes to non-contact knee
injuries.
Athletes may be left vulnerable to the intrinsic
challenges of dealing with the unpredictable
nature of competition if their training is
unrealistic or devoid of the means to assess
key performance parameters. Sports injury
prevention programs based on pre-planned
training activities do not replicate the
unpredictability of sport, nor quantify the
performance attributes essential to safe and
successful play. And many are certainly not
considered “fun,” resulting in low rates of
compliance.
The International Olympic Committee reported
that “almost 80% of ACL injuries are noncontact…(and that) injuries often occur when
landing from a jump, cutting or decelerating.”1
Based on this report, we believe that missing in
current sport injury prevention programs are
five capacities to:
1. Immerse the athlete in a realistic training
environment that replicates the interactive,
spontaneous, rapidly-changing nature of
competition, which is prerequisite to training the
athlete to anticipate both expected and
unexpected forces in any combination of
directions.
TRAZER®SportsInjuryPreventionProgram
2. Monitor and control the athlete’s body core
during sport-specific movement to ensure
sufficient knee and hip flexion for safer
movement including “soft landings” and
biomechanically-correct cutting
Successful athletes must perceive
environmental cues, decide on the proper
course of action, and then execute—all in a
fraction of a second. Proper training reinforces
efficient motor programs.
3. Provide real-time measures of the
deceleration forces associated with braking and
cutting
The penalty for a slow response, improper
execution or poor biomechanical posture and/or
neuromuscular activation pattern is sometimes
severe and season-ending.
4. Monitor both vertical fluctuations in the
athlete’s core and horizontal movement speed
to determine the athlete’s optimal athletic
stance/posture
5. Apply a combination of simulation and
progressive multi-directional resistance for both
assistance and resistance to reinforce proper
mechanics, build strength, power and stamina,
and condition the athlete to deal with fatigue
and the imposition of unpredictable forces
The TRAZER® Sport Simulator’s more realistic
training environment and real-time
measurement of the previously immeasurable
key components of sports-specific movement
provides the athlete, coach or clinician with a
powerful new testing and training tool for athlete
development, sports injury prevention and
rehabilitative programs.
THE UNPREDICTABLE NATURE OF SPORTS
COMPETITION EXPOSES ATHLETES TO
KNEE INJURIES.
The interaction between competitors “dueling”
for advantage often appears chaotic. The
abrupt changes in each player’s movement
path necessitate that an athlete draw from a
repertoire of sensory-motor skills which
includes balance and postural control, stability
and the ability to anticipate competitor
responses, the ability to generate and control
powerful, rapid, coordinated movements, and
reaction times and anticipation that exceed
those of the opponent.
GAME PLAY CREATES DIFFERENT
MUSCULOSKELETAL STRESSES THAN
PRE-PLANNED TRAINING DRILLS.
Conventional injury prevention programs rely
primarily on pre-planned training protocols.
Cone drills and similar prescribe a movement
path known to the athlete in advance.
While helpful for initial motor-learning stages,
pre-planned training activities are less
challenging than cues that assist in training the
ability to sense –process – react – execute
while maintaining proper body mechanics.
Unfortunately, injury prevention programs
delivering authentic sport-specific challenges to
train athletes to safely respond to the
unpredictable have been unavailable, and realtime, directly relevant feedback quite sparse.
Yet weaknesses in the athlete’s ability to deal
with spontaneous events may most directly
relate to actual game performance, as well as
to the risk for non-contact injuries.
INJURY PREVENTION PROGRAMS BENEFIT
FROM ‘AUTHENTIC” TRAINING
ENVIRONMENTS.
We believe that sports simulation, by simulating
the ever-changing, unpredictable interaction
between offensive and defensive opponents
and the ball, better prepares the athlete to
anticipate and react during game play. This
type of training reinforces effective responses to
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TRAZER®SportsInjuryPreventionProgram
competition’s spontaneous events. In fact, a
June 2009 article from Science Daily states, "If
you expose [a person] to more scenarios, and
train the brain to respond more rapidly, you can
decrease the likelihood of a dangerous
response."2 It is this type of training that strives
to make injuries relatively rare.
Simulation hones the athlete’s ability to react
and anticipate sport-specific visual cues. It is
designed to improve attentional skills, focus,
reaction time, processing and execution. The
same June 2009 Science Daily article reports,
“…expanding the anticipated training to include
shorter stimulus-response times could improve
reaction time in random sports settings.” 2 While
practicing movement strategies for improved
reaction time and performance, athletes can
also practice safer and more effective
biomechanical postures and neuromuscular
reactivity (firing patterns).
With simulated play, athletes learn to
successfully prepare for situational
uncertainties that can predispose them to injury.
Sports simulation works to “wire” the body so
that the athlete’s senses, mind and body work
together at maximum efficiency and safety.
“The research suggests that training the brain
to respond to unexpected stimuli, thus
sharpening their anticipatory skills when faced
with unexpected scenarios, may be more
beneficial than performing rote training
exercises…which is much less random than a
true competitive scenario.” 2
TRAZER’S CONTINUOUS HIGH-SPEED
TRACKING MEASURES THE PREVIOUSLY
IMMEASURABLE.
TRAZER® replicates the constantly changing,
interactive relationship between offensive and
defensive opponents engaging in actual
competition. TRAZER reliably tests and
effectively trains reaction time, power,
acceleration, deceleration, velocity of
movement, balance and dynamic posture over
sport-specific distances.
TRAZER’s realistic cues prompt a sportrelevant movement response from the athlete,
while high-speed positional tracking enables
real-time measurement of:
• Reaction Time – The elapsed time from the
presentation of a visual cue to the initiation
of correct movement response
• Start – The measurement of the athlete’s
ability to accelerate (1st step quickness)
• Stop – The measurement of the athlete’s
ability to decelerate (braking)
• Cut – By continuously tracking the athlete’s
body core, TRAZER measures movement
velocity and decelerations during rapid
changes-in-direction
• Dynamic Posture – Simultaneously tracking
the depth of the athlete’s body core and
horizontal movement speed enables
determination of the stance/posture that
maximizes agility and stamina
• Jumping/Landing – The measurement of
vertical changes of the body core to
determine in real-time jump height and the
depth of landings
Teaching and reinforcing correct mechanics for
sports-specific movement is an important step
for an athlete striving to exceed his or her
genetic potential, or to reduce the risk of injury.
Refining movement biomechanics that lead to
improved coordination of the hamstring muscles
in concert with the contraction of the quadriceps
is reported to reduce ACL strain.
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TRAZER®SportsInjuryPreventionProgram
“Cutting-edge research confirms that training the senses and
brain may be key in preventing ACL knee injuries”2
INCORPORATING SIMULATION INTO
SPORTS PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT
AND INJURY PREVENTION PROGRAMS
CAN INCREASE PERFORMANCE GAINS
AND REDUCE RISK OF INJURY.
We previously noted that most ACL injuries
occur during a landing from a jump, cutting or
decelerating. How then, do TRAZER protocols
contribute to preventing injury during the
execution of such movements?
1. Determining and reinforcing optimal
dynamic posture
• Use TRAZER to determine the athlete’s
optimal Dynamic Posture
• TRAZER play provides real-time feedback
of the athlete’s core during movement to
ensure proper knee and hip flexion
• TRAZER reinforces correct posture via realtime visual display of the moment-tomoment CG elevation
• TRAZER also allows the coach or athlete to
pre-set CG ranges to enforce the athlete’s
Optimal Posture
As the athlete becomes “comfortable” with their
optimal posture, substantial gains in their agility,
power, balance and stamina, elimination of
unnecessary energy expenditures and a
reduction in the risk of injuries is expected.
2. Safe landings
TRAZER’s real-time display of the athlete’s
core provides the critical feedback needed to
ensure sufficient knee and hip flexion for a welldampened jump landing.
3. Improved agility – safer changes-indirection
TRAZER’s real-time display of the athlete’s
core elevation during cutting maneuvers acts to
provide valuable information regarding knee
and hip flexion for safer and more effective
changes-in-direction.
Post-drill, TRAZER provides measures of the
key elements of agility – accelerations and
decelerations in 8-vectors.
4. Introducing fatigue— improving strength
& power
The application of progressive, multi-directional
resistance for both assistance and resistance
during TRAZER play teaches the athlete to
maintain proper mechanics during the
imposition of unpredictable forces as it builds
functional strength, power and stamina.
This progressive, multi-directional resistance
also induces fatigue, which acts to condition the
athlete to maintain proper mechanics and
responsiveness during game play. It is also
believed to increase hamstring strength and
power to correct quadriceps to hamstring
imbalances.
5. Safer knee position— restoring
symmetry
Research indicates that avoiding excessive
dynamic valgus of the knee (“knock-kneed”)
and landing straight-legged can reduce the risk
for injury.
Women were observed to land with less knee
flexion, and in general, maintain a straighter
knee during game play. Particularly
troublesome are hard landings with valgus
when the knee is near extension.
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TRAZER®SportsInjuryPreventionProgram
Though TRAZER does not, at this time,
specifically measure knee valgus, visual
observation by the coach during TRAZER play
regarding foot work strategies and knee
position can be very beneficial. The use of an
elastic band just above the knees provides
proprioceptive feedback to assist in correcting
knee valgus.
“Mental imagery or virtual reality technology can
immerse athletes to very complex athletic
scenarios, thus teaching rapid decision
making.” 2
IN CLOSING…TRAZER CAN BE THE MISSING LINK IN MODERN INJURY PREVENTION PROGRAMS. IT
CHALLENGES BOTH MIND AND BODY BY RE-CREATING THE COMPLEX PHYSICAL AND MENTAL
DEMANDS OF COMPETITION TO BUILD A SAFER, MORE EFFICIENT AND PREPARED COMPETITOR.
References:
1. Renstrom, P., Ljungqvist, A., Arendt, E.,
Beynnon, B., Fukubayashi, T., Garrett, W., et
al. (2008). Non-contact ACL injuries in female
athletes: an International Olympic Committee
current concepts statement. Br J Sports Med 42
(6), 394-412. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from
http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/42/6/394.
The Authors:
Alan Davis, MD, is a Cleveland Clinic
orthopaedic surgeon, and the team Physician
for the Cleveland Barons American Hockey
League (AHL) team. He was an academic AllAmerican at Michigan State, and has served as
Traq Ltd’s medical director since 2007.
Mark Schickendantz, MD is an orthopaedic
surgeon, director of the Cleveland Clinic Center
for Sports Health and head team physician for
both the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland
Browns.
Edward J. Ash, PT, ATC is the owner of ACTIV
PT, a private practice in Richfield, OH. He
developed the TRAZER Rehabilitation
2. University of Michigan (2009, July 27). Knee
Injuries May Start With Strain On The Brain,
Not The Muscles. ScienceDaily. Retrieved
August 18, 2009, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/
090724102915.htm
Protocols for Knee, Ankle, Hip, Balance,
Vestibular, and Knee Prevention.
Barry J. French, the inventor of TRAZER,
pioneered the application of simulation for
the enhancement of health/fitness, physical
performance and kinesthetic learning. He
has been awarded more than a dozen U.S.
patents. The technologies claimed by these
patents are currently being used by the vast
majority of mainstream video game makers.
He has demonstrated TRAZER on Oprah
for the Surgeon General, and has appeared
on numerous other national TV shows.
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