Preseason

This week saw the beginning of our preseason. Monday, 4 June 2012 saw the squad that remained in South Africa come together for the first time since the 1 April 2012 (T20 Final). A preseason is basically the period prior to the commencement of a regular season. This part of the season a souly devoted to reassessing players from a musculoskeletal (Physio assessment) and fitness point of view, through specific training protocols for the prepartion for the upcoming season. Preparing for a preseason programme, involves the entire staff. All aspects of the game need to be acknowledged and fit into the 4 month preparation phase. That is, stability, flexibility, strength, speed, endurance, agility and cricket skills (batting, bowling and fielding). The role of the Physio in the preseason is to evaluate each player, prior to the commencement of the programme. This evaluation is called a musculoskeletal assessment, and this involves subjectively asking the player about previous and current injury history and medical history. An intense objective, physical assessment is then done, which allows me to identify areas of concern in each player. This assessment takes about 45-60 minutes to complete for each player. When all the information is gathered, each player will then have his specific focus areas, to "prevent" injuries and work on. Monday was the fitness evaluation day and the players were put through a battery of tests to evaluate skinfolds (fat composition), weight, strength, speed, stability and endurance. These evaluations allow us to see the base fitness levels of each player and the same battery of tests will be repeated throughout the season to again reassess were each player is physically. My focus areas in particular are stability, flexibility, throwing and most importantly recovery. Considering that the preseason programme is not a walk in the park and these boys train at high intensities, recovery is vital for each of them to train at optimal intensity, a day after a hard days work, as well as a week, 2 weeks and months down the line.