A few of the key areas we’d like to cover are:
- Lower-limb injuries in surf lifesaving. Surf athletes place huge demands on the feet, ankles, calves, knees and hips through beach running, sprinting, swimming, board and ski transitions, jumping up from the sand and repeated changes between soft and firm surfaces. We’ll cover some of the common problems we see and when an athlete should get them assessed.
- Running on sand is different. Soft and uneven sand changes the way the foot and lower limb work and can significantly increase the demand on the calves, Achilles, feet and stabilising muscles. We’ll look at how an athlete’s running mechanics, strength and mobility can influence their ability to handle this.
- Testing rather than guessing. We use VALD ForceDecks and Dynamo strength testing to objectively assess strength, power and asymmetries between sides. For a surf athlete, this can help identify deficits that may become more apparent during sprinting, jumping, running through soft sand or transitioning in and out of the water.
- Managing training load through the season. Surf athletes often combine swimming, running, gym work, board or ski training and competition. We’ll discuss how injuries can develop when one area of the body is repeatedly overloaded, and how we can help deload an injured structure without unnecessarily stopping all training.
- Footwear, barefoot training and changing surfaces. Surf lifesaving athletes regularly move between barefoot beach work, soft sand, grass, pavement, gym training and running shoes. We’ll discuss how these different environments change load through the lower limb and how footwear selection can play a role in both performance and injury management.
- Keeping athletes training when pain develops. Not every injury requires complete rest. We’ll discuss how treatments such as focused and radial shockwave therapy, rehabilitation, strength work, footwear modification and load management can be used to help manage common tendon and musculoskeletal injuries throughout the season.
- When orthotics are useful — and when they aren’t. Orthotics aren’t something every athlete needs. Where there is a genuine mechanical or loading reason for using them, we have our own custom orthotic laboratory, giving us control over the prescription, design and manufacture of the device. This allows us to specifically target the athlete, their injury, their footwear and the demands of their sport.
- Get on top of problems early. One of the biggest messages we’d like the athletes to take away is not to wait until a small issue becomes an injury that stops them competing. Recurring calf tightness, Achilles pain, shin pain, heel pain, forefoot pain or persistent soreness after beach sessions are all things worth addressing early.
The main takeaway would be that surf lifesaving places a fairly unique combination of demands on the lower limb, and there are things we can assess and measure to help athletes understand why an injury may be occurring, manage it appropriately and ultimately keep them training and competing.
We’d like to keep the evening practical rather than overly clinical, so we can incorporate some athlete examples, demonstrations and testing into the session.
Bio – Jay Lewis
Jay Lewis is the Director and Principal Podiatrist at Elite Foot Care on the Sunshine Coast. Having played more than 250 games of senior AFL, Jay has a strong background in competitive sport and a particular interest in sports injury management, running-related injuries, biomechanics and orthotic therapy.
Jay founded Elite Foot Care with a focus on providing comprehensive sports and lower-limb care using modern assessment and treatment technology. Elite Foot Care operates clinics at Woombye and Sippy Downs and has its own in-house custom orthotic laboratory, along with VALD strength and force testing, running and gait assessment technology, and focused and radial shockwave therapy.
Bio – David Reesby
David is also a competitive road runner on the Sunshine Coast, regularly running around 130km per week. His own experience with high-volume endurance training gives him a strong understanding of training load, performance and the challenges athletes face when trying to manage an injury while continuing to train and compete.
David Reesby is a Podiatrist at Elite Foot Care with a particular interest in running-related injuries, biomechanical assessment and lower-limb performance.
David believes in providing individualised assessment and treatment, looking beyond the site of pain to identify contributing factors and help athletes improve function, reduce their risk of recurring injury and stay active.