Kusal Goonewardena, Elite Athlete Sports Physiotherapist for the University of Melbourne and founder of Elite Akademy Sports Medicine shares: 1. The types of injuries that are prevalent in netball 2. Why these injuries occur 3. How to prevent these injuries and In this presentation Kusal shares: 4. How an athlete can prepare for the Australian University Games (and apply the same principles for any major tournament) 5. Elite Akademy Sports Physiotherapy's unique assessment process. 6. How Elite Akademy Sports Medicine is helping to identify these injuries earlier and therefore getting these athletes back faster, fitter and stronger. Hope you enjoy! For more information go to www.EliteAkademy.com Tweet Kusal @kusalkumar Facebook www.facebook.com/EliteAkademy

1. Netball Team
Preparation
AUGs Gold Coast
2013
Kusal Goonewardena
APA Titled Sports
Physiotherapist

2. 14 year career - Sports Medicine.
Founder/Director of Vigor Sports Med and
Elite Akademy Sports Med.

3. Over 15,000 Treatments
Sports Injuries & Performance

4. University of Melbourne
Sports Physio - 2002
Head of Sports Medicine - 2008

5. Lecturer, Consultant
Australia, China, Sri Lanka

6. Current Sports Medicine Team
4 Physios at Melb Uni.

7. Injuries in Netball
Most Common Injuries
 Ankle (32%)
 Knee (17%)
 Hand or wrist (15%)
 Back (9%)

8. The Kinetic Chain
 Everything is connected
Movement involves
contribution from the whole
body
 Hip
 Knee
 Ankle
 Torso
 Shoulder, Upper Limb

9. Why do Injuries occur in Netball
Dysfunction in the Body
Due to
 Ground Reaction Forces
 Repetitive habits you are unaware of → Posture
 Inefficient Biomechanics
 Trauma

10. Why do Injuries occur in Netball
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Athlete 1 Athlete 2
Loading
Tolerance
Loading vs Tolerance

11. The Latest Clinical Findings
The Nerves
Very, Very Sensitive
65-85% of athletes will have neural ‘tightness’ if and when
they increase their training load.
Can decrease your Sports Performance Indicators (SPI’s)
by 25%
Normal Nerve
Affected/Dysfunctional
Nerve

12. The Latest Clinical Findings
75% of Injuries occur due to…

13. Why have I got Pain?
The Engine Light Analogy - The
Car

14. What can I do before AUG’s
Tip 1: Posture
What is good posture?
 Relaxed muscle groups vs Overactive
What to feel…
 Upper spine
 Lower spine/Pelvis Positioning
Lets practice

15. What can I do before AUG’s
Tip 1 (Cont): Posture
Motor Learning – posture and control
 Keep it simple
 Keep it precise
How many times before its perfect
 Magic number: ………………..

16. What can I do before AUG’s
Posture/Control – Taping Technique 1
Thoracic Spine

17. What can I do before AUG’s
Posture/Control – Taping Technique 2
 New – Core tape technique
 8 months of research to perfect – ideal
during sport/training

18. What can I do before AUG’s
Loading vs Tolerance – Exercise 1
‘Rolled Up Towel’ Exercise

19. What can I do before AUG’s
Loading vs Tolerance – Exercise 2
The Spinal Roll Exercise

20. What can I do before AUG’s
Tip: Video Your Training

21. What can I do during AUG’s
Recovery
After your Games
Sea Swims (30-40 min)
Contrast Baths (Hot/Cold)
(Hot 1 min; Cold 30 sec) Repeat 7 times.
Sleep
Best Form of Recovery
Drinks and Hydration
Alcohol only towards the end of the week
Red Bull 
Gatorade/Powerade/Lucozade 

22. What can I do before and
during AUG’s
Putting it all together.
Before AUG’s
Posture
Taping
Exercises
During AUG’s
Recovery Recovery Recovery!

23. What happens at
Elite Akademy Sports Medicine…
What is the CAUSE of my pain?
Provide you with a diagnosis
Can they HELP me?
 If yes, we work out how
How LONG before I recover?
 Time taken to recover
What can I do to PREVENT this?
 Exercises for recovery and prevention

24. What happens at
Elite Akademy Sports Medicine…
Free Biomechanical Assessments

25. What happens at
Elite Akademy Sports Medicine…
Free Biomechanical Assessments (Cont)

26. What happens at Elite Akademy
Sports Medicine…
Unique Pricing Structure
in 2013
Special for all AUG athletes
4 week: $350 ($44/session)
8week: $550 ($34/session)
12 week: $750 ($31/session)
**PAYMENT PLANS AVAIL**
Usual Pricing

28. Final Thoughts
Our Mission
To help our athletes achieve the best results, in the
shortest period of time.
We love What We Do.
We love Sport.

29. Thank You.
If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to send
a note or call our clinic 8344 4948
My email address is: kusal@eliteakademy.com
My twitter address is @kusalkumar
The Elite Akademy twitter address is @EliteAkademy
We share our athletes success stories and advice on our
Facebook site www.facebook.com/EliteAkademy
Lastly these slides have been uploaded to
www.slideshare.net/KusalGoonewardena