What a fantastic weekend down at Scarborough beach, watching our beach volleyball athletes battle it out on the sand at the WA Open. A big congratulations to WA’s Melissa Kennedy, Jen Sadler, Tessa Anderson, Taleah Atthowe, Shelby Maher, Casey Grice and Cole Durant for making it through to Super Sunday, and to Josh Court (and his Victorian partner Damien Schumann) for another National Beach Tour win (the boys are 4 from 4 so far this season). It was a great event, despite the hot conditions and the blowing South-Easterly!
We all know that the sport of volleyball requires a significant amount of body control and strength. But this is particularly important in beach volleyball given that we have to compete with a number of external factors, such as an unstable playing surface and that roaring sea breeze that is so evident in the Perth Summer!
Wind can be a little troublesome at times. Not only can it make us look much less coordinated than we would like, if the ball is blown out of position when we are hitting, this can place a great deal of stress on the shoulder.
So given that we have no control over the wind, how do we as beach volleyball players, reduce our risk of sustaining a shoulder injury?
The simple solution is to get strong (and to make those shoulders robust!)
A recent article in the British Journal of Sports Medicine identified strength training as the most effective way to reduce the risk of injury in sport. In fact the data suggested that strength training can reduce overuse injuries by almost 50%!
So to all of you beachies out there – if you are serious about preventing shoulder injuries (and improving your performance at the same time), I would highly recommend that you integrate strength training into your regime. Give Star Physio a call on 9481 1003 and make an appointment with one of our experienced physios to find out more. We have clinics in West Perth, Mosman Park and the Perth CBD.
