The 2014 Li Ning National U13 Basketball Training Camp is currently in full swing at the Qinhuangdao Training Base of the State Sports General Administration, and nearly a hundred young basketball players are participating in the training.

At 7:30 pm on July 31, at the invitation of Li Ning, Mr. Qu Zhi and Mr. Xiang Tianxiang, representing Dr. Chen’s STaR Studio, made a special trip to the Qinhuangdao Training Base, and presented a brilliant lecture entitled “The application of physical rehabilitation in youth basketball training.”  Nearly a hundred young basketball players, officials of the Chinese Basketball Association, and fitness coaches of the Li Ning Training Camp attended the lecture.

Before the lecture began, Mr. Qu threw out a question to everyone: “How does one become an outstanding basketball player?”  In order to become an excellent basketball player, he must possess great strength, speed, explosiveness, and other elements.  At the same time, a strong sense of physical reserve and injury prevention is essential.  This is because, with high confrontation, under pressure and accompanied by fatigue, when players complete the actions of sudden jumping and landing, it is inevitable that acute or chronic sports injuries will be frequent, especially knee injuries.  The lecture divided into two principal parts: one was through actual cases and on-site analysis, so the students could understand the importance of physical rehabilitation in basketball.  The other was conducted through interactive sessions, with physical function tests and physical rehabilitation training with athletes who suffered from knee pain.  The atmosphere of the lecture was warm and vivid, and the originally planned one and a half hour lecture was extended to two hours.  During the last 30 minutes of Q & A, the players and coaches asked many questions.  Many athletes and coaches stayed behind hoping to get more guidance and help after the lecture was finished.  

During the interactive session, several basketball players were bothered by their knee pain, which caused pain in the front side of their knees and weakness when squatting down at certain angles, and the pain intensified when sudden turns and halts were involved.  After on-site examinations and diagnoses, they conducted simple physical rehabilitation training with physical rehabilitation methods, and the symptoms of knee pain when squatting down were improved.  None of the athletes or coaches expected that such simple training could relieve the seemingly complex problems of long-term pain. 

“Sport is a double-edged sword,’ which can improve our physical fitness, yet is often the direct cause of our injuries.  Young basketball players, who go through specialized training prematurely, focus solely on improvement of their levels of technique, in pursuit of faster results in their performance, and this will inevitably cause injuries to occur prematurely.  Therefore, improving injury prevention awareness is the key to extending the athletic life span of the players.  We shouldn’t wait for injuries to occur, and then try to find the ways to solve the problem.  It is also important to do preparatory activities beforehand, and muscle relaxation and stretching afterwards. 
When sport injury occurs, do not panic.  The most important thing to do then is to get an accurate diagnosis, and combine it with effective treatment and physical rehabilitation training. 
 
Written by Jiang Tianxiang