EH General Portrait Template 2013 Phase3.Indd

Players who progress through the England Hockey Single System to represent their country have many qualities. They include a commitment to become the best player they can be and an understanding of how to achieve this. That commitment starts at JRPC England Hockey performance players use the term “robustness” to describe their ability to: • Remain in good health and injury-free whilst coping with the demands of high intensity training and competition • Avoid overuse or chronic injuries caused by poor movement technique / patterns • Be available for training and selection Performance players achieve some of this robustness by performing basic exercises well – concentrating on good posture and good execution of the movement, which are the building blocks on which they base their hockey skills. As you already have a lot of demands on your time, we would like all JRPC players to be able to incorporate their robustness work into the warm-up. This means that the warm-up becomes a very important aspect of your training and is no longer something you just have to get through before you start training. Your JRPC coaches are going to lead you through a warm-up, which may appear very similar to one you already use. The difference is that the emphasis will now be on you performing the exercises to the best of your ability; which means being balanced, in good posture and with good movement patterns. Your JRPC coach will guide you through this. Are you committed to work at this and start to improve your ability to remain fit and healthy throughout your hockey career?

Working at improving your robustness should reduce some of the niggles and overuse injuries which hockey players can develop. Unfortunately, however hard you work at being more robust, injures will happen and it is important to know how to deal with them. When you have a sudden injury, such as twisting your ankle, a muscle strain or just a bang from a ball or stick, you need to use P.O.L.I.C.E. to self-manage the injury. This will be a helpful start to treatment - even if you have to seek professional help. All sudden injuries produce an inflammatory reaction, which you need for healing to occur. For the first three days, use P.O.L.I.C.E. to provide the best environment for healing to take place. P. – Protection: make sure that the injury is not likely to be damaged further because you are still trying to use the injured part O.L - Optimal Loading: only move the injured part in a pain-free range. I. – Ice: apply ice or cold by using ice wrapped in a damp tea-towel or place your ankle or hand in ice and cold water. Do NOT apply ice directly to your skin. C. – Compression: apply some pressure over the injured area using a bandage. Make sure this is not too tight as some swelling may occur and we do not want to impede the circulation. E. – Elevation: when possible elevate the injured part above the level of the heart. For example, if you have a sprained ankle and you come home from school, lie on the floor to raise the leg higher than the heart rather than sit up and just raise the leg onto a stool. If the injury is painful, you can take painkillers such as paracetamol, but anti-inflammatories such as aspirin, neurofen or ibuprofen reduce inflammation. After a recent injury you need inflammation to initiate the healing process and anti-inflammatories will do the opposite of this. In the first three days after an injury DO NOT: 1. Apply heat – by having hot baths or using liniment / heat rub

2. Massage the injured area 3. Try to “run it off” or do any exercise which causes pain.

All of these things increase the circulation and may make the injury worse. After three days, if the injury is settling down you may feel you can self-manage it yourself. If so, you can start to massage around the injured area and start gentle movements. However the massage or the movement should not cause you any pain or discomfort. If they do cause pain, you are massaging too vigorously or too close to the injury site or the exercises are too vigorous. It is a good rule of thumb that if an injury caused you to stop training or playing immediately, but you were able to walk off the pitch unaided it will take you between 2-3 weeks to return to training. Do not try to return before the injury has completely settled – it is one of the commonest reasons for further injury to occur. Remember to inform your JRPC coach of any injury issues. If you feel you need further treatment from a professional, look for a chartered physiotherapist in your area. They will have the initials MCSP (Member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy) and HCPC (Registered by the Health and Care Professions Council) after their name. Your hockey club or JRPC coach may know a chartered physiotherapist close to you. Whatever the severity of the injury, remember to keep your JRPC coach informed about your progress so that they can help you manage your return to the JRPC sessions. Some of the chronic niggles or overuse injuries can be prevented, or at least reduced, by being aware of the following. Possible cause Comments Poor technique, posture,  Work on posture, balance and movement patterns in the warm-up. movement patterns  Flexibility exercises can be practised at home.  After training / competition make sure you warm-down well. Inadequate rest and  Rest, a good diet and fluid intake are very important. recovery  Is your JRPC coach aware of all the different training and competitions (in all sports) that you are involved in every week?  Are they still providing protection? Sticks / gloves / shin  New equipment / footwear, though suitable, may also cause pads / gum shields problems.  Are you wearing suitable clothing if the weather is very hot or cold? Weather  Use sun cream with a high SPF factor  Plot your height on a graph on a two-week basis.  As you go through growth spurts you may lose co-ordination, become Growth spurts very tired and develop muscle and tendon problems.  You may need to reduce your activity until the growth spurt has slowed down. Unsuitable training  Are you doing your running training on a hard surface (e.g. footpath)? facilities  Returning to training / competition too early without having fully Previous injury recovered. Poor nutrition and  During training and competition. hydration

Head injuries can occur in a variety of ways: you can be hit by a ball or a stick, collide with another player or hit your head as you fall to the ground. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you respect any head injury – however mild it may appear at the time. England Hockey have produced a Concussion Guidelines for Players, Parents and Coaches. The guidelines are there to protect you from further injury and it is important that you consult the document and abide by the advice. Looking after your general health is also very important. Do you and your friends develop colds towards the end of term when you are tired and run down? You may have important games in the school holidays and it is important that you remain healthy. A good night’s sleep, eating a good balanced diet, having recovery time after training and games can all help to reduce your ability to catch colds. Remember never share drinks bottles - your friend may be starting with a cold!