What makes some players "Injury Prone"?

[TedyB54]

So, at the risk of igniting yet another "Maroney is made of glass" firestorm thread, I am curious as to what actually makes players injury prone.

Is there something about them physically that causes their joints, bones, etc. to get damaged easier than others?

Are they too aggressive that they end up getting hurt?

Do they lack the proper balance or agility and as a result are often putting their bodies in awkward positions that increase the potential for injury?

To me, it seems that a twisted ankle, broken arm or separated shoulder are injuries that could happen to anyone, so why would it be more likely for some than others?

 

[FarScapeR]

I've actually given this some thought. There's definitely a difference in the wear and tear threshold of different athletes. If you compare Chad Pennington and Brett Favre, clearly Favre is just all around tougher as an athlete. In some cases, it's the position, which is why running backs, especially big ones, don't last too long. The more aggressive you are on the field, the more likely you are going to get hurt, much like Rodney Harrison and Bob Sanders.

 

[Snarf]

They are injury prone if they are MADE OF GLASS.

Someone had to say it.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I don't think there is a logical answer for this

Some people can fall down a flight of stairs and walk away with just a few scratches,Another person can fall down that same flight of stairs the same way and be crippled for life.

Just hope that you are blessed by the one above with a body that can take these types of hits and bangs

A doctor probably could not explain why some get hurt easily and some don't,especially at around the same age - Its just being a person who was born blessed or being cursed to play in the NFL of course any other type of activity goes the same way.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Besides the personal resiliency cited above, much of it is simply statistics and probability. There's always a few outliers at the ends of the bell curve. Over a 10 year period something like 5,000 guys will have played in the NFL. Some few will have records where they were injured time and again.

 

[Bill B.]

Conditioning and flexibilty. As athletes get bigger they become less flexible. That is why stretching is really important in pre game warmups. But sometimes in football pileups, bodies just land wrong and sometimes a joint will get bent in a way that it is not supposed to go. Once an athlete gets a serious injury that requires a long recovery time, they may not be working out the rest of their bodies and it will take them longer to get into proper condition, if it ever gets back to the same condition it was pre-injury. Just conjecture on my part, though.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Knowing how to fall and how to take a hit is key. If you look at the Haynesworth hit on Brady in pre-season, Brady altered what his body was doing to see the result of the pass. If he simply went with the motion he would have landed just fine on his back with no damage to his shoulder.

When people tense themselves they’re making injury vastly more likely and severe, drunks do better in car wreaks than sober people because their bodies are relaxed.

 

[patriots pam]

Actually, I just saw a show about this the other day...of course, now I don't remember what channel or what it was called, but anyway...

There is research showing that some types of injuries are now known to have a genetic basis. One of the ones they discussed were Achilles heel injuries. They profiled an NFL player (again, name and/or team escapes me, ATM) whose genetic profile indicates that he is susceptible to them. He has not actually had an Achilles injury to date, but now that he is aware of it, his trainer has him do extra work with strengthening and stretching this area, in hopes of helping to prevent this specific injury. Then they delved into the implications of how players could be affected if scouts/coaches etc., were to become aware of their genetic tendencies before signing the player. Interesting stuff.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Having played the game for a long time and through college, I see injuries as falling into two classifications:

1.) Freak accidental injuries. They happen to all teams. Very hard to avoid and non recurring.

2.) Lack of proper conditioning/maintenance/technique injuries. Classified by hamstring pulls, groin tears, etc.

Randy Moss used to blow a hammy every season it seemed like. Since he has been with us, it has not been much of a problem.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

There may be a few athletes that over train too.

 

[BradyFTW!]

It's a combination of genes, playing style/proper technique, endurance, training regimen, and past injuries.

As a personal anecdote, having injured my right hip in the past, I am susceptible to a repeat of the same injury. I'm also susceptible to injuring other parts of my body through overcompensation if I'm not careful. The human body is a finely calibrated machine- once it's at all out of whack, you're pretty much setting yourself up for further injury if you're not very, very careful.

 

[Patspsycho]

It's a combination of genes, playing style/proper technique, endurance, training regimen, and past injuries.

Training regiment used to be a big issue- it used to be the norm that you lifted for strength and mass, but nowadays all of the training has shifted to resistance that has just about eliminiated soft tissue injury for the most part.

The other big issue is off-season training. Unsurprisingly, quite a few players slacken during the off-season and gain weight/lose huff and puff themselves back in shape. bulk/conditioning/flexibility, and in the days leading up to training camp, or even training camp itself, they try to reverse this in an accelerated fashion.

Research has proven that it is not optimal for the human body to undergo this yo-yo effect on a yearly basis where you go out of shape, then work yourself back in shape for football season.

Hence the institution of off-season training that has helped solved this (ONLY for those who participate in it, by rule it is voluntary participation)- the Patriots have one of the best, and before you counter with the fact that we've had a lot of injuries lately, remember that a great deal of those injuries are "hard" e.g., fracture, sprain, broken, tear- that occur from violent movements or collisions. Very rarely do you hear about pulled or strained muscles. It also does not help that BB has an affinity for signing "over the hill" veterans.

And a lot of it does have to do with your mentality as a player on the field, and whether you are afraid of contact or not- those who tend to fear or hesitate upon contact would probably be more likely to seize up or clench right before the moment of contact which increases the likelihood of injury, as opposed to absorbing it with elasticity or having the ability to be focused enough to make minute adjustment to avoid absorbing the full force (Welker comes to mind).

This is my educated guess why players such as Maroney are susceptible to injury more than a player such as Dillon who was brutual in terms of contact, but did not seem to get injured that much.

 

[bostonia3333]

Randy Moss is the skinniest guy out there, but someone who rarely gets injured. I'm not sure how he does it. It seems that he doesn't fall into the trap that other receivers fall into by getting too excited with yards after a catch. He'll catch a pass, run for a little, and just fall down on his own to avoid an unnecessary punishing hit. That's what Rice used to do. I've rarely seen Rice or Moss ever get jacked up in their careers.

Ben watson on the other hand, takes the biggest hits it seems.

 

[Schmo]

Randy Moss is the skinniest guy out there, but someone who rarely gets injured. I'm not sure how he does it. It seems that he doesn't fall into the trap that other receivers fall into by getting too excited with yards after a catch. He'll catch a pass, run for a little, and just fall down on his own to avoid an unnecessary punishing hit. That's what Rice used to do. I've rarely seen Rice or Moss ever get jacked up in their careers.

Ben watson on the other hand, takes the biggest hits it seems.

First thing I thought of was Moss. It takes a certain intelligence for a player to know exactly when to end a play, instead of risk injury for a few yards. There are some times when he will make big runs after the catch, and others when he just drops to the ground because he knows he can't go anywhere. I've always admired this because I know we will have him every week.

 

[Wretch]

In a recent Outside magazine there was an interview with a NHL trainer and he maintained the classic weight training actually was causing many injuries because it focused to much on the "large" muscles and not the smaller secondary muscles. The large muscles became so strong that the overpowered the smaller muscle groups.

He commented that young hockey players would come into the juniors without an injury history and become injury prone. He attributed this change to the players participation in the teams weight training regimen. He said that most of the players conditioning as amateur athletes either came from playing or from "chores" on the family farm and that those complete body exercises kept the muscle groups in balance. He actually has his clients chop down trees with an ax as part of their conditioning program.

On a personal note. I was never injured playing sports until I joined the Army in my mid to late 20's and I was part of an organized PT program. While in the Army I tore ligaments, dislocated joints, developed tendonitis and developed bone spurs in my feet an ankles. Part of those injuries can be attributed to natural aging but after reading the article in Outside I had to wonder if it was the Army PT program that contributed some to me becoming injury prone myself.

 

[TheComeback]

Honestly, I think it's genetics more than anything else. Guys with more muscle also tend to be better protected against bone injuries. In addition, smarter players take better care of their bodies than dumb ones.

But both my dad and my brother were athletes who have a history of injuries. It has to be something genetic, as they are both tough guys. My dad dislocated his shoulder in airborne training for the army and kept with the program for three days before his CO noticed the injury and sent him to the hospital.

I think some guys are just made different like that. No way an average person with Peyton's build can take the punishment he has over the years and not be severely injured at least once.