We had a video of this kid on our social media and I am still thrilled about being part of her journey. It was so gratifying to help her go from long=term injury to accomplishing the dream of D1. The easy part was correcting the injury. The hard part was convincing the brain that it was safe to turn loose.
The number one job of the brain is to keep us safe. It will not allow you to do something that it perceives as a threat. Sadly, I work with over 200 injuries a year…new students who come from around the country to see if we can correct the problem causing the injury. Unless they have torn or broken something it’s pretty easy to put them back on the mound, even for kids who have been told they will never pitch without pain.
Fixing the body does not always fix the mind. I have a bit of a sore knee some days after running. The first thing I do each morning, subconsciously, is put weight on it to see if it will hurt that day. Throughout the day, if I go up or down steps or go for a run, the brain is watching carefully to see if it trusts the knee. I can try to ignore it, but if I start to run down the steps, the brain immediately forces me to grab a handrail for support, whether it is sore or not.
Herein lies the problem. If a pitcher hurts one leg, the other will compensate by trying harder. Suddenly that healthy leg, which is not built to take that kind of load, gets more seriously injured. The brain’s protection of the weak link can lead to injury on the strong side. Pretty soon her form is all over the place.
Playing through pain is just not smart. Whatever is causing the pain is restricting the ability of the body to deliver exciting results. If it hurts, contact me. You cannot turn yourself loose when you are wearing handcuffs.
