Working in Movement

The phrases "relearning movement patterns", or "learning to use yourself better" conjure up images of physical therapy at best and new age nonsense at worst. But the concepts behind such phrases aren't necessarily limited to the worlds of rehab or ... whatever. Learning less stressful movement patterns can be useful in preventing problems to start out with, as reported in How You Play the Game Limits Knee Risks, Gals Told. It seems that women athletes, especially basketball players, suffer severe knee injuries at a much greater rate than their male counterparts. The may be anatomical or self-use pattern reasons for this, but the exact cause isn't known. The good news is that prevention programs are springing up and they seem to work. These prevention programs include learning to run, jump, land and pivot differently. One such program included:

A series of hops, lunges and squats (that) taught ... how to lower her center of gravity, stay balanced, and keep her knee flexed correctly. It also helped to strengthen her quadriceps, hamstrings, hips and abdominals.

How do generalized activities like "hopping, lunging or squatting" help a specific skill like playing basketball? In short, the sensory motor system learns these patterns well enough so that they're available for any activity. The ideas and movements become second nature, according to one athlete who went through the training. ''You don't have to think about it,'' she said. ``It just happens.'' I've written about this sort of learning previously.