Random Thoughts

First of all check out Tracy Forber’s blog www.ironmaven.blogspot.com. She is a physical therapist in St Louis. She offers a real refreshing perspective. Read today’s blog on Movement Literacy.

The response to yesterday quiz was interesting. The athlete was Mary Pierce. I was reading an article on tennis when I saw those facts. I was amazed! You can figure out from there who the guru is.The obvoius question is that if this training is so good and cutting edge why is she and many others who train there always hurt?

Last week I read the book “Juicing the Game.” I had seen and avoided it, I just wasn’t up for another expose’ on drugs and sport. I have lived that first hand. This was different because the author put in the context of baseball as a business, an entertainment business at that. EVERYONE involved in the game knew that performance enhancing drug use exploded in baseball in the mid nineties. The owners, the trainers, the coaches all chose to ignore it because after the strike and the World Series was cancelled the game needed a shot in the arm. The answer was the barrage of home runs and pitchers throwing in the upper nineties. This brought the fans streaming back into the stadiums and the dollars started to flow again. The take home point for me was that it is not sport, it is entertainment. It is essentially a roman circus.

Another book that I just finished was Herman Maier’s autobiography. It was an interesting read to see how he was able to come back from his horrendous injuries. I wish there would have been more detail on his training and rehab, but his comeback is nothing short of amazing when you think that they were actually considering amputating his leg.

If you get a chance watch the snow board competition in the Winter Olympics. Bill Knowles ATC has worked with Hannah Tetter, an 18 year old who is on the US team. She has trained in a multidimensional manner. I am excited to watch her performance, although she is coming off a little knee problem I am excited to see her compete. Bill does some real interesting progressive rehab that is real outside the box. He has had great success. His approach will be detailed in a future issue of Training and Conditioning magazine.