It's been a rough transition starting this second semester. We had an indoor tournament at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse on January 20th and 21st. And in the second game of the day, I injured my ankle. Not badly, but enough to take me out of the game. I thought I would be ready for the next one, but it wouldn't get better. But I wanted to play that day. Before you all start calling me a hero for manning up to play for my team, I'll say it wasn't like that. I had my ankle taped, took a bunch of Motrin, and played for one game. There was no pain due to my adrenaline. It wasn't a gutsy performance, like Curt Schilling's infamous red sock, or Michael Jordan with the flu in the Finals. The game hardly mattered, as we were beat badly.
Fast forward a month, and my Achilles on the same foot hurts to the point where I can't exercise. Not my ankle anymore. My ankle improved, I played in a tournament in Ohio in early February with no pain. Then the next week my Achilles starts hurting beyond the pain of my ankle ever did. My theory is that it was a compensation injury. Anyways, I'm out of shape and haven't improved physically for my goal of becoming a better handler. However, I paid attention at practice more for things I should do--the mental side of handling.
Hopefully the injury bug will leave me and I can focus more on improving my throws and decision making. This past month and a half has been very frustrating, but that's one of the risks we take as athletes (and as a major quest!). It's a facet of games and playing that, well, changes the game. Entire games are decided by injuries. It's apparent when we watch sports. When a star player has an injury, his/her team really struggles. These trials and tribulations will be in my final report, and many other details that actually contributed to my success (hopefully) in the next month and a half.
If I had one piece of advice for all of the major questers doing something physical, be safe and stay injury-free.
I actually can relate to your post. I played AAU basketball throughout my life and I specifically remember when I hurt my ankle really badly. I taped it up and kept playing and then within a month I had strained my Achilles tendon. I remember being in so much pain and doing several exercises to improve the pace of the healing. Yet, for me I experienced more pain sitting on the sidelines and watching my team struggle without their starting point guard. I remember getting so frustrated sitting there watching and wondering why me? I wanted to play SO badly. I didn't listen to my doctor and I rushed getting back on the court and I ended up hurting myself even more. That was a terrible decision that only resulted in me sitting out for a longer period of time. I had to change my mindset. I had to accept the fact that I couldn't play and instead focus on something else. In that healing period I learned so much. Not only did I learn things that I could apply on the court, but I also learned how to be a better teammate. I learned more about my teammates strengths and weaknesses and I was able to capitalize on this when I got better. So I give you the same advice! I hope that your injury heals soon, but while you are on the sidelines try to learn something you didn't know before you got hurt.
ReplyDelete-Shannon Funsch