I can’t believe it. They got into the Big Dance. The Longhorns’ streak of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances is still alive. Coach Rick Barnes will be able to keep the angry mobs away for at least another season. Maybe.
The end of the regular season wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination. The Longhorns stumbled their way into the Big 12 tournament. There was a loss against Baylor, followed by a tenuous overtime victory against Texas Tech. They did get an end-of-season win against Oklahoma – always a good thing – but then got pounded by Kansas. Up and down, up and down, all season long - much like a roller coaster.
All the Horns could do at this point was hope for a good showing in the Big 12 tournament. With the sixth seed, they had a bye in the first round. This season, that was as good as a win.
In Texas (a “direct access state” according to the American Physical Therapy Association), we are nine months away from another legislative session in which we will attempt, yet again, to attain consumer direct access to physical therapy.
All has been quiet here in Texas since April 2011 when we finally had a bill reach committee, only to have it die in committee. March 2012 is now upon us, and I am sure that the overtures will begin again in earnest soon enough. I can hear it now: “We need to build relationships with our legislators” will be the battle cry, followed shortly thereafter by “we need to raise money for lobbying”.
Reality check: we don’t have the people. We don’t have the money. We don’t have the legislators. And as they say, if you do what you’ve done, you’ll get what you’ve got.
The profession needs a significant game change – a pitching change, if you will.
I am sure you’ve experienced it. You are relaxing comfortably, fall asleep, then suddenly arrive at a terrifying dream in which you experience feelings of extreme anxiety. Then, you wake back up and realize it was all just a dream. It was nothing more than a nightmare.
I see the same thing in health care, and I keep hoping that I will wake up and realize it was all just a dream. But it’s not. As a PT in the sports world for 24 years, i have seen my fair share of nightmares in health care. The most obvious and prevalent examples of these nightmares are the cases that are grossly over-treated or under-treated in the face of good scientific evidence and clinical reasoning – or lack thereof.
Sadly, these nightmares are recurrent in the world of sports medicine and orthopedics.
It’s almost that time of year again. Spring break is right around the corner, and with it comes the influx of creative types to our fair city. It is time for SXSW in all its myriad of flavors. The most prolific (and original) part of SXSW – the music conference- starts on Wednesday March 14 with the Austin Music Awards.
It has been a while since I have been fully exposed to all that is SXSW, but I can say that I do have some great and fond memories of it from years long past. I may end up sounding a little “old school”, but as Dylan said, the times they are a changin’. SXSW has changed a lot over the years, of that there is no question. Nonetheless, here are five great memories I have of SXSW.
This is the 11th in a series of RunSmart videos. The series is on-going, with a new video released on a biweekly basis. These videos complement the material presented in the book “RunSmart: A Comprehensive Approach To Injury-Free Running”. The full series of videos can be found here. A compilation of the first 10 videos will be available on Vimeo as well.
For those of you that are interested in a more interactive learning environment, consider attending a Level One (half day), Level Two (one day), or Level Three (two day) RunSmart program. The Level One program is 4 hours and focuses on basic training principles and running mechanics. The Level Two program is 8.5 hours and focuses on injury prevention and performance optimization. The Level Three program is a two day, 15 hour program that includes a comprehensive approach to running injuries. The next Level One program will be offered in Austin on March 24, 2012. The next Level Three program will be offered in Reno, Nevada on May 5 – 6, 2012 at the University of Nevada.
In this video, I discuss verbal and mental cues. Many athletes try to micromanage their running mechanics - “place the foot here, don’t toe out, tilt the pelvis slightly” and similar biomechanical specifics. But sometimes a simple verbal or mental cue will suffice.
Life presents us with many glorious moments, interspersed with just as many (if not more) challenges. Most people don’t seem to have much difficulty getting through the glorious moments. With any luck whatsoever, we face the challenges bravely, with courage and conviction.
But even at the best of times, we can lose sight of the brilliant and get mired in the difficult. We can have internal doubts about ourselves, our role in the world, or our personal efficacy – even when we know, deep down inside, the truths that are self-evident.
Sometimes, it can all get lost in the mix of our day-to-day existence. Sometimes, we miss the forest for the proverbial trees.
Sometimes, we suffer from It-Is-As-It-Is-Itis.
Two weeks between episodes always seems like a lot of time. But as I have found, time seems to keep on ticking along, faster and faster every day. I can remember my mother telling me as a child that I should enjoy how slow time goes by when you are young, because it gets faster as you get older. Once again, Mom was right.
Each two week cycle takes us a little closer to March Madness … to summer … to a federal election. Well, I guess two out of three ain’t so bad, and you can pick the two.
It’s time for Episode 35, a time for the economics of Wall Street, the economics of the New York Knicks, and the economics of Obamacare.
Up to 60% of runners will sustain an injury within any given year. Poor running mechanics, in conjunction with poor, ineffective and outdated training methods, can pose a significant injury risk. "RunSmart" was written to address these issues in the running community.
"Running Injuries: Etiology And Recovery- Based Treatment" (co-author Bridget Clark, PT) appears in the third edition and fourth editions of "Clinical Orthopaedic Rehabilitation: A Team Approach" by Charles Giangarra, MD and Robert C. Manske, PT.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.
Top 5 finalist in three categories: "Best Overall Blog", "Best PT Blog" and "Best Advocacy Blog".
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