Bigger, Stronger, Faster...More Injured

[SlowGettingUp]

This is a thought provoking article from SI on the Redskin's Jordan Reed, but the same perhaps applies to Gronk. These players are getting bigger, stronger and faster, but they don't necessarily have stronger tendons and ligaments. There is a reason baseball pitching maximum speed has pretty much topped-out - stronger and faster puts more strain on ligaments - Gossage and Ryan were both clocked at 103 MPH back in 1978.

Are NFL Players Like Jordan Reed Too Big and Too Fast?

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Interesting article. Reed is even more ripped than I.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

I suspect that eventually we'll see the pendulum swing the other way. Perhaps Brady's regimen will catch on eventually as a counter to the injuries.

 

[zydecochris]

Interesting article. Reed is even more ripped than I.

False modesty doesn't suit you.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I suspect that eventually we'll see the pendulum swing the other way. Perhaps Brady's regimen will catch on eventually as a counter to the injuries.

I DO think that the stretching and flexibility regimen will reduce injuries. Problem is that the physics of being heavier & faster is really exceeding Mark 1 Human physiology.

 

[fnordcircle]

So basically what you're saying is my middle-age paunch is what peak performance looks like.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

So basically what you're saying is my middle-age paunch is what peak performance looks like.

Peak Performance is you climbing all NE's 4,000 footers in the winter with a blindfold on.

 

[fnordcircle]

Peak Performance is you climbing all NE's 4,000 footers in the winter with a blindfold on.

Having played Madden and lost to him (including a time where he successfully had a sideline catch by Antowain Smith overturned) I am pretty sure that his blindness is fake news.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

The fact is that 80%-effort Gronk still makes for a great tight-end. So maybe we'd be better off if he turned it down a notch or two, although that is clearly not his style. And there is no defense against someone taking out your knee.

Edelman always terrifies me with his 110% play, but he somehow seems to come out fine.

Brady practices falling and taking hits. I really don't think he would ever have suffered that shoulder injury that befell JG. There's a reason the Vick-type QBs haven't endured - they take much more of a beating.

I've read about some teams using special training techniques to avoid hamstring injuries. I noted on Hard Knocks this year a TB player shivering in a cryochamber cooled with liquid nitrogen - no idea if that is snake oil or not.

Anyhow the Pats have great depth at most positions - comes from less spending on star players and more on mid-level guys.

This tweet is great:



And here is some more on injury-prevention - the new helmet:

With Alex Smith leading way, some Chiefs players are high on new ‘Zero1’ helmet

 

[BlueThunder]

Heh..I've climbed 3 of the 65 mountains in New England over 4oo0 ft...........In fact 2 were over 5000 ft .... Mt Lafayette and Mt Lincoln.......Cannon was over 4000.......All are in Franconia Notch.....

 

[oldrover]

NFL update:

What's out? Big, strong, ripped.

What's in?

Flexible.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Heh..I've climbed 3 of the 65 mountains in New England over 4oo0 ft...........In fact 2 were over 5000 ft .... Mt Lafayette and Mt Lincoln.......Cannon was over 4000.......All are in Franconia Notch.....

Oh yea......I've walked some of the finest golf courses in New England with a 6 pack in my bag.

 

[LuRkeR1978]

I suspect that eventually we'll see the pendulum swing the other way. Perhaps Brady's regimen will catch on eventually as a counter to the injuries.

It works. I don't completely subscribe to TB12, but I have adopted many of the diet changes, and stretch/yoga routines. Other than some lower back pain from previous injuries I feel better than I did when I was 19, stronger too. This year I finally moved back to infield on my softball team, and it was just like riding a bike. The last time I played 2B was in high school.

I'm turning 40 in January. Tom Brady is my inspiration. If he can play Pro football till he is 45, then I can play softball at a high level until I'm 70.

 

[Simpelton]

What actually causes a majority of injuries is damage to ligaments. That being the case there is Definitely such a thing as being too strong, if you focus only on being "shredded" and don't also develop the elasticity of your ligaments to take the extra tension from all that muscle mass.

We've all seen some muscle bound idiot tear his knee up when he got juked and made an overly aggressive correction. These guys build their make-me-look-sexy muscles instead of the useful smaller muscle groups and ligaments and literally pull their own ligaments off the bone.

Frankly while good tone and twitch seed are vital, the body builder look is largely surplus to requirement for most NFL positions. Unless you are a lineman r similar, the ability to rapidly change direction is far more useful than pure strength. Even linemen have an easier time accommodating for lack of size rather than lack of maneoverability

 

[luuked]

Gotta wonder how much this is the fault of the strength and conditioning staff. I get that players that come extra early and start work outs by themselves are celebrated as hard workers but at the same time it is the job of the s & c staff to carefully plan the training regimen to max out each player and include enough rest for the body to recover especially when it come to weights.

 

[Simpelton]

This is where the problem comes in where you have million-dollar athletes with $0.10 heads. sometimes a guy will get his own ideas about how he needs to look and act and work out and there's not an awful lot of strength and conditioning coach can do to change that guy's mind.

I'm thinking about offseason workout plans here. The strength and conditioning team will do what they can while the player is there. And I'm sure they advised the player on how they should be working out off the field. However There's only so much that the coaching staff can do with a player who's not actually training with them at the moment and those offseason workout plans are critical to a player's Fitness and condition while playing in the field

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

Bigger, Stronger, Faster.......

 

[Simpelton]

In the NFL six million dollars is a bargain many times

 

[Joey007]

*PLIABLE.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Three significant non-contact knee injuries in the last few days - Edelman and these two: