2nd year placement reflections.
27th February- 2 hours
First session with the wheelchair basketball team, the majority of the time was spent talking to the head physio about the specific injuries the players had and understanding their specific needs. There is a huge range of injuries/conditions within the players and makes it really interesting to find out what they all need individually. I think this placement is going to be really beneficial to me to learn about things I wouldn’t have learned if I was dealing with a fully able team. I was also nervous In this session and felt as though I was doubting myself in regards to what I know when I’m reality I probably knew everything I was talking about nervously. At the start and the end of this session the lead therapist told me to observe him taking the warm up and the cool down for the team which he went through with me individually and told me how he had adapted it to them. I found this part so interesting as he had to take a chair of course and sit in it himself so I will go home and research to see if I can add even one thing to his already impressive warm up and cool down, an aim of mine is to learn these warm ups and cool downs and take them myself.
2nd March – 2 hours
I’ve just finished my second training session with the Plymouth raiders wheelchair basketball team. The team train twice a week, once on a Monday and once on a Thursday my first session was a Thursday session in which most of the players didn’t turn up as I was told by the coach and captain that they have work and family commitments however in tonight’s Monday session I was told that 80% of the team turned up so again I saw a lot of new faces and this was great for my learning as I also needed to of course learn about their specific injuries and or disabilities. One new player that interested me was one who had Becker muscular dystrophy. This condition means that the player cannot take part in the whole of a training session as they get fatigued very quickly and sometimes as I was told by the lead physio he can start coughing and struggling with their breathing which is another symptom of BMD. The session as a whole was very high tempo and all the players were fine and nobody needed any treatment.
5th March – 2 hours
In this session I was asked by one of the players to give them a “quick” STM before they began training on their right trapezius. As 90% of the players wear vests this kind of massage was easy to give and also because they are already in their wheelchairs I managed to have a perfect angle to give the massage. I started off by applying my massage cream to the right trap and using effleurage to warm up the muscle tissue before moving into some light petrissage techniques so try and increase the blood flow to the area. After 5 minutes the player told me that it felt good and he was ready to train and after the session I asked them how it felt and they told me that it “freed” their shoulder up which I was happy with. Another first for me tonight was dealing with a player who had tipped over in their chair after a clash with another player, I watched the head therapist run onto the court and help the player tip back up onto their wheels. Some players have the core and arm strength to get back up however some do not and need a hand, the lead therapist talked me through who would need help and who wouldn’t.
8th march – 3 hours
Earlier today I went to my first wheelchair basketball game at the life centre. This experience was great for me as it was the first time I fully saw all of the players play at high intensity and learn about the way that they get around their disabilities to be good basketball players. Before the game I gave out 2 massages to 2 key players on the team so this was a very nerve racking experience because I was very wary of not injuring them and doing something silly as I knew they needed to play. The first player wanted a forearm massage, this was good. I felt confident giving this massage I only used effleurage on this player and on reflection probably could have used a few petrissage techniques to increase the blood flow more and next time I will do this I think I was nervous today. The next massage was on the neck and upper back, I made sure this player had no conditions that could make this type of massage at this location dangerous. Both of the players said the massage was good and they felt freed up which gave me so much confidence. Apart from these two massages nothing else happened in the game that meant I had to act.
12th march – 2 hours
Today I met a player on the team who has suffered with sciatica for 10 years. For me this was a great opportunity to see if what we had been taught the other day in a lecture was true for this player and I also want to get to the point where they want some treatment as I would feel confident applying some hot and cold therapy to this player as it would be beneficial for them and also would help my confidence and get me thinking. Apart from meeting this new player and having a chat with them there wasn’t anyone else who needed my assistance in this session however I was observing and it is very interesting to see how the players with different types on dystrophy throw the ball and I was talked through the different types of wheelchairs used by some players who need more core stability ect.
16th – 3 hours
Today’s session was very helpful and interesting, the reason for this is because a player came to me after the two hours of training had finished and complained of shoulder ache and their throwing arm didn’t feel as strong as it normally does. From this I surmised that the player had a rotator cuff injury and so I completed a few movement tests and ended up giving the player some band work to do at home as they told me they had a theraband at home. One exercise I gave this player included some resistance band work such as banded incline press in which the band goes around the players back, up under both triceps into the hands and i got the player to start with there hands in by there chest and which would have little if any resistance then I got them to push out slowly until both of there elbows were at full lock to feel the resistance. This session was great as I got to think outside the box about how a disabled person differs and has different needs to a fully able person, overall I was very happy with the plan I gave this to this player and am looking forward to catching up with them.
Unfortunately the 16th of March was my last placement hours of my second year because of the current circumstances.