Predicting goalie injuries, is it possible?
I’ve spent the better part of the last decade trying to find out what physical qualities (or lack there-of) are most related to on ice injuries to goalies.
Over the past 8 years (as far back as I can get data via mangameslost.com and sportsforecaster.com) there is consistently over 30% of games missed with a low body injury in the NHL. This of course doesn’t take in to account time missed from practice as well or the reduced quality of play from playing through pain or discomfort.
That time missed equals opportunity missed. Too many careers are being limited or ended. In my experience, that doesn’t need to be the case.
To give goalies a better chance of not missing game and development time, we must first establish what’s important.
Research and my experience have linked strength imbalances to both increased injury risk (3,4,5,6,7) and impaired athletic performance (8,9).
The closer the relationship between these imbalances with the physical traits required to play the position, the better idea we have of injury risk and performance leaks.
Until recently we’ve needed force plates or other large/expensive equipment to properly assess these imbalances. Today, the tech is available to run the on- and off-ice testing necessary to help in the fight against injuries and to provide the data necessary to paint a picture of what information will help those in the future.
This is where my partnership with Plantiga comes in to play. Plantiga’s approach to movement detection and analysis is a huge milestone. I now have the ability to run the quick and easy testing needed to measure what’s important. This can be done in 15 minutes and at a convenient location such as a rink, field or parking lot when a gym is not available. If you aren’t measuring, you’re guessing.
What we really care about is finding the deficits that athletes are hiding through compensation patterns. This, in turn, allows us to design more individualized and targeted training programs.
Predicting injury isn’t a certainty. It’s a probability assigned to a potential outcome. It does, however, give the athlete an opportunity to change their behaviour and, through training, work at what’s important. This is the primary benefit to those being tested. The athlete has the quantifiable data to aid in tracking their development, to ensure that their resources are put to the best use. It will also help those of the future by creating a large database that can be utilized to better identify red flags that may lead to injury.
The goal is less injuries, more starts, more wins. For the present and future generations of goalies.
The exercises used with Plantiga to best measure speed, strength and power asymmetries are:
Multiple Countermovement Vertical Jump
Performance traits measured: jump height, relative strength index, lower limb asymmetry.
Multiple Countermovement Broad Jump
Performance traits measured: lower limb asymmetry.
Cyclical Jumps
Performance traits measured: jump height, relative strength index, lower limb asymmetry.
Single Leg Lateral Jumps
Performance traits measured: jump distance, lower limb asymmetry.
Single Leg Vertical Jumps
Performance traits measured: jump height, lower limb asymmetry.
From these tests I will be able to build out an injury risk profile like the one below.
This profile is used to build reference points — established with the testing of one or two of these exercises each week, year round — that can then be referred to throughout a goalie’s career. Overall, Plantiga serves as a valuable tool that influences athlete programming and a means of providing quantifiable communication with the athlete’s support staff to help keep goalies on the ice.
As the founder of Citius Strength and Conditioning, Tavish Bochek has expanded to using Plantiga as a way to more accurately measure acceleration and change of direction, in addition to the testing outlined above. With the platform’s ease of use and mobility, it also has allowed Tavish to expand his lab level testing to athletes in various cities across North America.
References
1) Cowley, HR, Ford, KR, Myer, GD, Kernozek, TW, and Hewett, TE. Differences in neuromuscular strategies between landing and cutting tasks in female basketball and soccer athletes. J Athletic Training 41: 67–73, 2006.
2) Hewett, TE, Stroupe, AL, Nance, TA, and Noyes, FR. Plyometric training in female athletes: Decreased impact torques and increased hamstring torques. Am J Sports Med 24: 765–773, 1996.
3) Knapik, JJ, Bauman, CL, Jones, BH, Harris, J, and Vaughan, L. Preseason strength and flexibility imbalances associated with athletic injuries in female collegiate athletes. Am J Sports Med 19: 76–81, 1991.
4) Myer, GD, Ford, KR, Hewett, TE. Rationale and clinical techniques for anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention among female athletes. J Athletic Training 39: 352–364, 2004.
5) Orchard, J, Marsden, J, Lord, S, and Garlick, D. Preseason hamstring muscle weakness associated with hamstring injuries in Australian footballers. Am J Sports Med 25: 81–85, 1997.
6) Flanagan, EP, and Harrison, AJ. Muscle dynamics differences between legs in healthy adults. J Strength Cond Res 21: 67–72, 2007.
7) Young, WB, James, R. and Montgomery, I. Is muscle power related to running speed with changed of direction? J Sports Med Phys Fitness 42: 282–289, 2002.
8) Lockie RG, Shultz AB, Jeffriess MD, Callaghan SJ. The relationship between bilateral differences of knee flexor and extensor isokinetic strength and multi-directional speed. Isokinet Exerc Sci 20: 211–219, 2012.
9) Bracic M, Supej Matej, Peharec Staniaslav, Bacic Petar. An investigation of the influence of bilateral deficit on the countermovement jump performance in elite sprinters.