Les accidents "sportifs"

[Katharine Kanter]

Le sport, et plus précisément le tennis, ne m'intéresse pour être franc, pas du tout. Néanmoins, il est instructif de lire ce qui se publie sur la médecine sportive car, malheureusement, la danse dite "classique" aujourd'hui s'apparente plus à un sport et je dirais même, un sport dangereux.

Ce jour dans le New York Times paraît un article de Christopher Clarey, sur les accidents dans le domaine du tennis. L'article est très long; pour respecter le Copyright, sont postées ici que de brèves citations qui semblent pertinentes à des problèmes assez précis.

Les tennismen, tout en étant extrêmement bien payés, vivant dans la soie, mangeant à leur faim (quoi ?) et ayant accès aux meilleurs médecins sportifs et physiotherapeutes 24 heures sur 24, sont néanmoins très malades, en dépit d'une condition physique à laquelle is vouent une attention de tous les instants.

Tout cela, "to increase the (...) entertainment value".

ARTICLE BEGINS

"For Tennis Players, Twists, Turns, Topspin and Oh, the Pain
By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY

Published: February 14, 2005, New York Times

“.... Justine Henin-Hardenne; her opponent in that final, Kim Clijsters; and the 2001 and 2002 champion, Jennifer Capriati. All three were once ranked No. 1, and all three were forced to skip the first Grand Slam event of 2005 because of significant injuries.

[Amongst] the men ... of those who have reached No. 1 since 1998, five have had major injuries: Marcelo Rios, Carlos Moya, Marat Safin, Patrick Rafter and Gustavo Kuerten.
"It's a brutal game now," said Wayne Ferreira of South Africa,

(....) Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport, have had major knee surgery (....).

In the men's game, Rios and Rafter retired before their 30th birthdays, as did Magnus Norman (...) who reached No. 2 but was never able to recover fully from a hip condition. Kuerten (...) [has had] two hip operations.

Other former top-five players who have missed several months or more of play the past few years include Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian of Argentina; Tommy Haas of Germany; Greg Rusedski of Britain; and Mark Philippoussis of Australia.

Relatively new techniques - the open-stance forehand; the semi-open-stance two-handed backhand; and the abbreviated service motion - are also creating health risks.

"The game has gone in such a way that it has placed a much greater demand on what we call the core stability, and that has to do with the lower extremities, the buttock, the hip, the abdomen. If you compare the forehand or even the backhand of now to 10 or 15 years ago, there is such an incredible acceleration and rotation that occurs at the hip and trunk level."

Core training has been in vogue in professional sports for the last decade, and the overwhelming consensus in tennis medical circles is that it is essential to survival in the modern game. "Core stability is a major issue," Kibler said. "If you don't have it, there are extra loads on the hip or leg or groin."

Kibler said groin injuries were on the rise because players were being jerked around the court more violently by the pace of the game. When yanked wide, they are now trying to hit full-force shots from more extended, vulnerable positions instead of settling for the defensive slices or lobs of previous generations.

Players are also taking bigger cuts at the ball because they feel that the balls and conditions on indoor and outdoor hard courts are generally slower, a move made by tournament organizers to increase the length and entertainment value of rallies.

"It's changed the way the game is played," Dean Goldfine, who coaches Andy Roddick, said. "There's not as much point construction, and more of these guys are learning from the time when they're young to go out and swing as hard as they can on every single ball. That's not good for the body."