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Dallen P. Bigler

Ms. Amanda Tibbits

Language Arts 12

8 March 2019

Sports Physical Therapy

At one or more times in your life most people will need physical therapy. Sports physical

therapists use their skills to evaluate then determine how to best help their client by asking

questions about an injury such as how it happened and what problems are you having now. After

receiving answers to these questions they can put a plan together to help their client. A sports

physical therapist needs many skills to be able to treat the vass number of injury can occur while

an athlete participates in their sport.

As a senior in high school Brad Libby knew he wanted to be a physical therapist.​ ​Ever

since Brad was little he played sports. Being competitive in nature comes out in his every day

work. His passion for basketball, soccer, and tennis provided inspiration as he began considering

a career. A sports injury and the rehab that followed inspired him to choose a career helping

athletes who are injured. (Gabbianelli).

Kinesiology and psychology are studies showing how the body and mind work.​ ​While

studying kinesiology you learn about strength and conditioning methods of rehabilitation

including physical and occupational therapy, and sport and exercise. Applications of kinesiology

in human-health include physical education teacher, rehabilitation, sports and exercise industries.

On the other hand, psychology is the science of behavior and the mind. It includes conscious and
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unconscious phenomena, as well as feeling and thought. This science helps us understand mental

functions and social behavior. Libby says his approach is more aggressive because he wants to

be patients to a healthier level than they think is possible. Some patients have a psychological

block because they have so much pain. His job is to push them enough to get better but not so

much to increase their pain (Gabbianelli).

Athletic training is good for the body and the mind.​ ​Athletic training encompasses the

prevention, examination, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and medical

conditions. The main purpose is to provide injury prevention and wellness protection, clinical

evaluation, and diagnosis. As a certified athletic trainer Brad Libby can help his patients succeed

by giving them increased mobility and help them be pain free. Libby had one patient who had

suffered with pain for a year. She stated, “I came in and saw how young you were and almost

walked out”. After hearing Libby talk with confidence and knowledge she stayed and after a

short period she was on track for being pain free. I want to be able to help as many people in the

community as possible. (Gabbianelli).

Muscles need massage.​ ​Professional cyclists would never dream of skipping their

post-ride massage. Massage has been around for hundreds of years and it works in a number of

ways; by increasing the muscles range of motion, by increasing circulation, and nutrition to

damaged tissues. (Donlevy).

Pre event massage lowers injury possibilities.​ ​A massage before a sporting event helps

restore muscle length and can help with the negative effects of posture during the day. Having a

rub down isn’t the only thing you can do to prevent injuries. You should also warm up by
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stretching your muscles (Donlevy).

Conditioning massage is great.​ ​Regular conditioning massages are used to reduce the risk

of injury. A regular routine massage is good to help identify potential soft tissue problems. The

objective is to prevent overuse injuries and help with fatigue (Donlevy).

Exercise not drugs.​ ​After a war injury in Iraq staff sgt. George Perez took pain killers for

relief. After time these stopped being effective. He began physical training and after a few weeks

the pain in his back dissipated and his body could do things he hadn’t been able to do since the

injury (Staples).

Rehab helps body and mind.​ ​The U.S. military is following the lead of the sports world

with specialized training and rehab for its “tactical athletes”.(Staples).

Football players are not the only athletes.​ ​Like professional athletes special ops forces

need strength coaches to standardize training regimine for specific units. Top soldiers in the

military are often asked to push their bodies further than elite athletes. Now every branch of the

armed forces is hiring strength coaches, trainers, physical therapists, and dieticians (Staples).

New York physical therapy on the rise.​ ​Sports physical therapy of New York has been

helped by state legislation that allows a patient to see a physical therapist without first seeing a

doctor. This law can save time and money by preventing unnecessary tests. We are trained well

enough to be able to assess a patient’s symptoms, complaints, and then make a determination as

to whether a patient needs tests right away or physical therapy is warranted first (Seltzer).

Commonwealth games need therapy.​ ​The Australian soft tissue therapy team worked

tirelessly providing the best service to ensure the athletes had maximum preparation,
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maintenance, and recovery. Soft tissue therapy has become a major part of every athletes weekly

routine. Discussions on treatment and protocols were available for everyone to absorb and

comment on. For over twenty days soft tissue therapists provided more than 650 treatment

sessions. Treatment provided varies from recovery sessions, to flexibility, to pain management

(Hiskins).

Sports massage keeps the games moving.​ ​Massage is a vital part of the commonwealth games.

(Hiskins).

Service please.​ ​A recovery center was available to teams from all countries. Included

were Ice baths, stationary bikes, recovery massage therapists, and showers. Recovery is an

important part of an athlete’s regimen. We are proud of the recovery service we provide for our

industry. We had services provided by four sports physicians, five physiotherapists, seven soft

tissue therapists, and a acupuncturist. The services the industry provide are sought after at all

major national and international games (Hiskins).

“Fore” ward.​ ​Golfing is one of the most popular sports in the world. There are between

28 million and 35 million people who play golf worldwide. Not only have the petispent numbers

reach new levels, the game itself has also. Golf was once thought of as a mental game more than

a physical game, but golfers have come to understand the increasing importance of the bodies

role. If you speak to enough golfers you will understand why this sport is so popular. People of

all ages and abilities can play golf and enjoy the beautiful settings and plenty of exercise.

(Warren).

Strength improves performance.​ ​Today’s golfers particularly competitive ones, need to

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have a developed upper body. People involved with this sport are realizing if they don’t lift

weights and strengthen their core muscles, they will hurt themselves. Not only can injuries come

from weak muscles, bad technique and mechanics can injure a golfer (Warren).

Strong core muscles improve all aspects of your game.​ ​The core muscles are hugely

important when making an effective golf swing. Their main responsibility is to stabilize your

body so you can swing powerfully without losing your balance or control of the club. They also

prevent injuries specifically protecting your spinal column. Core strength for golf can be done

from a standing position with exercises that promote lower back stability with hip and upper

back mobility. Suspension training is best suited to deliver these qualities (Warren).

Optimize technical skills.​ ​Optimizing an athletes sports performance can help reduce

injuries. I can reduce plyometric knee injury, helping golfers with safe technique, runners, and

triathletes as well as jumping athletes. Working with entire sports teams or individuals I can

make their performance better. (Abnet).

Many skills are needed.​ ​After becoming a PTA I wanted to keep learning and knew I

wanted to work in sports medicine. I began taking beginning education classes these classes

helped me in manual therapy and taught me tapping techniques for sports related dysfunctions. A

course in selective functional movement assessment and intervention taught me how to look for

dysfunction in the whole person not just the area of pain. I also took a course on how to

incorporate pilates into physical therapy. These courses have been a great help to me in helping

the large population to runners, triathletes, and dancers/cheerleaders (Abnet).

Injury prevention is better than post injury treatment.​ ​When I work with volleyball
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athletes stabilization of the core muscles is vital. Volleyball players need to have strong glutes

and abdominal muscles. I also look at the glutiral requirement and balance, and lead the patient

with exercises in the clinic that would be difficult for them to do at home. I schedule a patient for

a video tapped evaluation that will help identify foot and ankle biomechanics. I like to encourage

athletes to do activities that will keep them injury free (Abnet).

The most important thing I learned is that a sports physical therapist needs to have a large

amount of knowledge about how the body works. After doing this research I think this would be

a hard career and I am not sure if this is a career I would like. Things that I need to know about

this career are the education requirements, the ease of getting the job after receiving the

education, and the typical income for someone in this field.

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Works Cited

Abnet, Teri. “PTAs Today. Enhancing Performance: Empowered to Help Athletes Help

Themselves.” ​PT in Motion,​ vol. 3, no. 1, Feb. 2011, pp. 60–63. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=57750843&site=ehost-live.

DONLEVY, MICHAEL. “The KNEAD for SPEED.” ​Cyclist​, no. 33, Apr. 2015, p. 99.

EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=101173602&site=ehost-live.

GABBIANELLI, ANNE. “Fast Break.” ​Bangor Metro,​ vol. 13, no. 4, Apr. 2017, p. 20.

EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=122000594&site=ehost-live.

Hiskins, Brad. “The Winning Team.” ​Massage Australia,​ no. 53, May 2006, pp. 24–28.

EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=awh&AN=21277840&site=ehost-live.

Loria, Keith. “Fielding a Sports Physical Therapy Practice.” ​PT in Motion,​ vol. 6, no. 2, Mar.

2014, pp. 26–32. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=95798399&site=ehost-live.

Seltzer, Rick. “Sports PT Looks for Steady Growth after ‘Year of Relocation.’” ​Business Journal

(Central New York),​ vol. 26, no. 15, Apr. 2012, p. 3. ​EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=74513112&site=ehost-live.

Staples, Andy. “Semper FIT.” ​Sports Illustrated,​ vol. 120, no. 18, May 2014, p. 66. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mat&AN=95825015&site=ehost-live.
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Warren, Jennifer L. “MASSAGE Helping Move Golfers ‘Fore’Ward.” ​Massage & Bodywork​,

vol. 21, no. 2, Apr. 2006, pp. 92–99. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=awh&AN=20397482&site=ehost-live.