Kusal Goonewardena, Elite Athlete Sports Physiotherapist for the University of Melbourne and founder of Elite Akademy Sports Medicine shares: 1. The types of injuries that are prevalent in womens soccer 2. Why these injuries occur 3. How to prevent these injuries and In this presentation Kusal shares: 4. How an athlete can prepare for the Australian University Games (or apply the same principles for any major tournament) 5. Elite Akademy Sports Physiotherapy's unique assessment process. 6. How Elite Akademy Sports Medicine is helping to identify these injuries earlier and therefore getting these athletes back faster, fitter and stronger. Hope you enjoy! For more information goto www.EliteAkademy.com

1. PREPARATION FOR THE
AUSTRALIAN UNI
GAMES 2013
IMPROVING
PERFORMANCE
PERFECTING
BIOMECHANICS
REDUCING INJURY RATES
Kusal Goonewardena
APA Titled Sports Physiotherapist

2. 14 year career - Sports Medicine.
Founder/Director of Vigor Sports Med, Elite Akademy
Sports Med.

3. Over 15,000 treatment sessions completed
in sports injuries.

4. Melb Uni Sports Physio since 2002.
Head of Sports Medicine at Melb Uni since 2008.

5. Uni.
Lecturer, Consultant – China, Sri
Lanka.

6. Injuries in Womens Soccer
UEFA injury study
Single most common
injury thigh strain
(17%)
Hamstring > Quad+Groin
Re-injuries ~ 12%

7. Injuries in Womens Soccer
Other Common
Injuries
Ankle
5x higher risk with old
ankle injuries
Knee
ACL, Meniscus, Ligam
ents

8. The Kinetic Chain
 Everything connected
 Movement involves
contribution from the whole
body
 During the action of kicking a
soccer ball power is
generated from
 Hip
 Knee
 Ankle
 Torso
 Shoulder

9. Why do Injuries occur in Womens
Soccer
 Dysfunction somewhere in the body
Increased stress due to
 ground reaction forces
 repetitive habits you are unaware of → posture
 Inefficient Biomechanics – decreased mobility,
stability etc
 Trauma

10. Why do Injuries occur in Womens
Soccer
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Athlete 1 Athlete 2
Loading
Tolerance
Loading vs Tolerance

11. The Latest Clinical Findings
The Nerves
 Very, very sensitive
 65-85% of athletes will have neural ‘tightness’ if and
when they increase their training load.
 Can decrease your Sports Performance Indicators
(SPI’s) by 25%
Normal Nerve
Affected/Dysfunctional
Nerve

12. The Latest Clinical Findings
75% of Injuries occur due to…

13. Why have I got Pain?
The Engine Light Analogy - The
Car

14. Pain =

15. How do we fix the Engine?
What if we checked everything in the engine...?
Ie. Find the CAUSE of the
Dysfunction = Reason for the
brain creating pain
Or
Remove the Light??
Ie. Treating the SYMPTOMS

16. What can I do before AUG’s
Posture
 What is good posture?
 Relaxed muscle groups vs overactive
 What to feel…
 Upper spine
 Lower spine/pelvis positioning
 Lets practice

17. What can I do before AUG’s
Posture
 Motor Learning – posture and control
 Keep it simple
 Keep it precise
 How many times before its perfect
 Magic number: ………………..

18. What can I do before AUG’s
Posture/Control – Taping
Technique 1
Thoracic Spine

19.  New – Core tape technique
 8 months of research to perfect – ideal during
sport/training
What can I do before AUG’s
Posture/Control – Taping
Technique 2

20. What can I do before AUG’s
Loading vs Tolerance – Exercise
1
‘Rolled Up Towel’
Exercise

21. What can I do before AUG’s
Loading vs Tolerance – Exercise
2
The Spinal Roll
Exercise

22. What can I do during AUG’s
Recovery
After your Games
Sea Swims (30-40 min)
Contrast Baths (Hot/Cold)
(Hot 1 min; Cold 30 sec) Repeat 7 times.
Sleep
Best Form of Recovery
Drinks and Hydration
Alcohol only towards the end of the week
Red Bull 
Gatorade/Powerade/Lucozade 

23. What can I do before AUG’s
Putting it all together.
Before AUG’s
Posture
Taping
Exercises
During AUG’s
Recovery Recovery Recovery

24. What happens at
Elite Akademy Sports Medicine…
What is the CAUSE of my pain?
Provide you with a diagnosis
Can they HELP me?
 If yes, we work out how
How LONG before I recover?
 Time taken to recover
What can I do to PREVENT this?
 Exercises for recovery and prevention

25. What happens at
Elite Akademy Sports Medicine…
 Free Biomechanical Assessments

26. What happens at
Elite Akademy Sports Medicine…
 Free Biomechanical Assessments (Cont)

27. What happens at Elite Akademy
Sports Medicine…
 Unique Pricing
Structure
in 2013
Special for all AUG
athletes
4 week: $350
($44/session)
8week: $550
($34/session)
12 week: $750
($31/session)
Usual Pricing

29. Final Thoughts
 Our mission
To help our athletes achieve the best results, in
the shortest period of time.
 We love what we do.
 We love sport.

30. Thank You.
If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to send a
note or call our clinic 8344 4948
My email address is: kusal@eliteakademy.com
My twitter address is @kusalkumar
The Elite Akademy twitter address is @EliteAkademy
We share our athletes success stories and advice on our
facebook site www.facebook.com/EliteAkademy
Lastly these slides have been uploaded to
www.slideshare.net/KusalGoonewardena