As cricket season looms large on the sporting horizon, it is important that we are at our physical best to safeguard ourselves against injury. In many cases, risk of injury can be detected during a musculoskeletal screening process, that often occurs prior to season commencement or during the early part of the season.
What is a musculoskeletal screening?
Performed under the instruction of trained physiotherapists, a musculoskeletal screen is a battery of tests and assessments performed to assist in identifying areas of concern or deficit that may increase the risk of injury during play. These tests are carefully selected based on current evidence to determine the level of injury risk to a particular part of the body that is considered at risk during the cricket season.
While every sport is unique and has its own movements and actions specific to it, many of the tests involve simple assessments that may include range of motion, strength or control through different parts of the body. For instance, a cricket screening would look at movement at the shoulder, through the upper and lower back, as well as ankles, knees, hips and core strength. Screening is usually quick and easy to run through and should only take a few minutes to complete.
The screening is done, now what?
Once the data has been collected, the physiotherapist conducting your screening will identify areas that are at risk of injury. Once we know where is at risk, we can then begin to formulate a structured exercise program to specifically target areas that demonstrate this increased risk. The program will be customized to you and may involve stretching to improve mobility and range of motion, strengthening to improve strength and control or further one-on-one assessment and management.
The team at Enhance Physiotherapy are trained to comprehensively assess and reduce risk of injury in a wide range of sports, including cricket. If you have previously had a sporting injury, have a current injury, or just want to try to reduce your injury risk, book in with one of our physiotherapists for a thorough assessment.
