Practicing Safe Spotting Mechanics (Part I): Squatting, Kneeling, and Height

After tackling a few joint and anatomy based topics, I wanted to reach for something a little more functional this week. In Physical Therapy (and in life) functional activities are really where the gold is. All the exercises, stretches, myofascial techniques, and joint stability in the world have little effect if you can’t apply them to functional activities. Each person has a unique set of functional movements that they need to perform to go about their every day life. For a mother it may be a squat to pick up her child, for a construction worker it may be lifting something overhead on the job site, for many gymnastics coaches it is spotting .

In this post, I want to talk about a few functional positions/movements that gymnastics coaches are constantly using while spotting, and outline some tips how be as safe as possible. The three I will discuss and outline are squatting, kneeling, and varying heights. Here’s a little more on each,

Flat Feet In Gymnastics: Why It May Be a Concern and Tips To Help

This week’s post is about another very common issue within gymnastics, flat feet (or in medical terms pes planus). This topic is extremely important and frequently seen in both coaches and athletes. As I will explain, having flat feet (along with some other factors) may not only create foot/ankle dysfunction but also possibly increases the risk for other serious lower leg injuries. Having flat feet is often considered to be one piece of the puzzle for traumatic ACL tears, plantar fasciitis/inflammation of the plantar fascia, Achilles tendonopathy/calf pain and injury, Sever’s disease, and progressive knee/hip/lower back problems. When looking from the back, gymnasts with aquired flat feet often show a certain heel/foot alignment known as a “rearfoor valgus”, like this picture (her left foot is a little worse than her right). Notice how the insides of her feet appear to lean in as she stands normally.

Excessive Flat Feet/Over Pronation Causing Rear Foot Valgus

Is The Way Your Spot Setting You Up for a Shoulder Injury? (Part II – Preventative Rehabilitation )

In Part I of this topic, I went over why practicing safe spotting techniques may reduce your possibility of a progressive or traumatic shoulder injury. Instead of going into more background information, I decided it would be more beneficial discuss the shoulder pre-hab information. I think that this content is much more important and also benefits both coaches and athletes. By investing some time in the exercises, stretches, and myofascial release techniques you can increase your shoulder joint health and possibly reduce your risk of injury.  By keeping your shoulder both flexible and stable, your shoulder will be more prepared for the workload of spotting.  When integrated to training programs, these techniques may aide the athletes in increasing shoulder strength, flexibility, and overall joint protection during training.

Is The Way You Spot Setting You Up For a Shoulder Injury? (Part I)

After last week’s post on hip flexor tightness being mostly focused on the gymnasts, I wanted to shift gears and touch upon the importance of preventing injuries for coaches.  This is a content heavy topic, so I chose to break it into a few parts so that it is easier to read through and digest. A side note, our gym is closed for the week so unfortunately I have no direct gymnastics pictures to include for this post. I’ll talk about the hands on aspects of this concept next week so I can include pictures, as well as include some pictures referring back to this post.

There are many areas of the body where coaches can be susceptible to injury. However, as many of the coaches reading may agree, the shoulder is one of the most common. Hands up if you agree. If you just got home from practice and that hurts, you might be in the right post (I know terrible joke). Faulty spotting mechanics, poor shoulder strength/stability, and certain technical habits can possibly lead to a variety of shoulder injuries. These can range from minor overuse injuries to potentially more serious traumatic injuries like dislocations and muscle/ligament tears. In this post I will outline some background points to why coaches must be aware of this, and also discuss a few spotting scenarios where potential shoulder problems may arise.