I was able to participate in live play again. Needless to say, I missed my entire freshman season. I often look back and wonder how I would have trained differently in high school if I had been aware of my own biomechanics at an earlier age. During that first college pre- season, my coaches often warned me that my knees wobbled with instability both before and after every jump. Unfortunately, I had been playing that way
for six years; it was difficult to change habits that had been firmly ingrained in my play. Since my injury, I now have an entirely new
awareness of both my own body mechanics and the mechanics of others. If juniors players can learn to be cognizant of their own mechanics at a younger age, this will greatly benefit them in the area of injury prevention.
BE CAREFUL WITH BOX JUMPS Some coaches implement jump training
such as box jumps in an attempt to counteract poor jumping techniques, but Wosmek points out that unless there is a clear focus on proper mechanics, jumping reps can actually have a detrimental effect on players. “If players do a hundred box jumps with
faulty mechanics, sure, their legs will get stronger,
but ultimately it’s just beating in those patterns that are going to hurt them in the long run.”
THE BENEFITS OF BODY-WEIGHT EXERCISES Wosmek says that body-weight exercises
are a good way to start analyzing individual biomechanics. This gives players a chance to increase awareness of their own movements and ask questions like, “Are my knees caving in when I’m doing body weight squats?” Wosmek emphasizes that club coaches
should seriously consider hiring professional strength trainers to teach their players skills that are both strength- and age-appropriate. While biomechanics is certainly a complex
field as a whole, this does not excuse us from having a healthy awareness of what biome- chanically correct skills look like for our sport. No matter how young you are, the sooner you learn to jump and land properly, the better off you will be. Make it a goal to implement qual- ity strength- and jump-training now and you’ll increase your chances of having a long, fun and injury-free career.
Cassie Ronda, originally from Chandler,
Ariz., played at the University of Denver from 2010 to 2013.
ALTITUDE: Cassie Ronda rebounded well from an ACL injury during her college career. (Photo: University of Denver)
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