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Cummins, Watson injuries stem from hip weakness

Roar Rookie
8th December, 2011
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Roar Rookie
8th December, 2011
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1020 Reads

I have been an avid follower of cricket for many years from Durban, South Africa and the Natal Dolphins to the QLD Bulls and beyond and as a physiotherapist I have naturally been interested in the injury scene when it comes to cricketers, in particular the bowlers.

It has become apparent over the years that injuries to bowlers are becoming ever more frequent, despite the latest ‘science’ in sports injury management and prevention.

What frustrates me more is the fact these injuries often occur in the same bowler more than once, or they suffer an injury to another part of their body which could have a similar cause to the other injuries.

Take what has recently happened to Cummins (heel), and now Watson (calf) in the Australian squad. These are not uncommon injuries for bowlers, but I feel it is accepted too easily that these are part and parcel of cricket.

Having been a teacher to other physios on muscle strength diagnostics and how this relates to injury, I know how physios are taught these days, and that there is a serious lack of knowledge of functional anatomy.

By this I mean how one muscle can affect another, how tightness can cause muscle weakness and how weakness causes compensatory actions and more tightness, eventually ending in injury, often nowhere near the original imbalance.

As examples, both the Cummins and Watson injuries most likely have the same cause, i.e. weakness of the hip muscles on the affected limb. Now this is where it gets a bit tricky.

The common school of thought seems to be (and this is my opinion) that weakness anywhere in the body is the result of one thing, lack of use.

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I say this because the common treatment for this is strengthening. If someone injures a hamstring or calf, for example, there is an immediate focus on strengthening the muscles involved as if this is going to prevent injury.

My belief – and this comes with almost 20 years of work in this area – is that this approach could not only be ineffective, but could force the body to further compensate, thus increasing the symptomatic map.

This can result in another area of the body becoming tight, and later becoming symptomatic.

How many players have you seen who originally have heel/foot pain, then later in their career it is the knee, then the hip…all on the same side.

This is because the true cause of the problem is not being assessed, and thus not treated.

From my work, I have realised that the most common cause of these types of injuries is weakness in the hips caused from overuse, thus resulting in tightness of the soft tissues around the muscles, causing weakness due to the muscles lacking space in which to contract.

This weakness then results in the hip ‘giving way’ as in a limp, loading up more weight into that leg, thus causing the stress to increase on the lower parts of the leg, i.e. knee and ankle and the muscles that control them.

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This compensatory action leads to stiffness and eventually pain.

Just treating the ankle, calf, knee or hammy, is not enough. The cause needs to be sought out, namely the hip imbalance.

I will put my professional head on the block and say that there is most likely weakness in the hips of both Cummins and Watson, and their resultant compensatory actions are manifested in heel and calf pain.

Treating these areas and attempting to strengthen the muscles in the area will not be sufficient. You will still be left with the original imbalance, which if it does not result in the same injury again, will cause another to surface at some stage.

Just because these players spend so much time in the gym does not mean their muscles are strong.

If there is any form of overuse, tightness in the fascia occurs, which will cause weakness, and this cannot be remedied with strengthening exercises.

In my opinion, flexibility is the key to preventing injury, not strengthening. Get out of the gym (or at least reduce it greatly), back on the field and stay injury free.

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So one tip for the medical staff, if in doubt, test the hip, it is the most common cause of lower limb injuries.

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