Strength & Conditioning

[J. Spanky]

Strength and Conditioning is an issue that I believe needs to be strongly addressed this season. Perhaps even to the extent of staff dismissal. The amount of muscle/soft tissue injuries this season is inexcusable. These are largely preventable injuries that cost us dearly.

Moss, Randle El, Smoot and several other players missed time due to injuries of this nature. If I'm not mistaken, most, if not all of our o-line injuries we muscle/soft tissue. With the small margins of most of our losses, these injuries are among the small bumps that prevent us from winning consistently.

It will still be a couple more years of aquiring quality depth in the off season (considering we've only really been doing so for the past 2 years) before it is no longer a primary issue for us. In the mean time, we need to do everything possible to keep our top-heavy roster as healthy as possible.

Does anyone know the status of our current strength/conditioning staff (John Hastings, Bobby Crumpler and Harrison Bernstein)? From what I've seen the past couple years, these guys need to be handed their walking papers.

[Soup's Uncle]

I agree, how many groin pulls and hammy pulls and strains did we have last year?

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by J. Spanky

Strength and Conditioning is an issue that I believe needs to be strongly addressed this season. Perhaps even to the extent of staff dismissal. The amount of muscle/soft tissue injuries this season is inexcusable. These are largely preventable injuries that cost us dearly.

Moss, Randle El, Smoot and several other players missed time due to injuries of this nature. If I'm not mistaken, most, if not all of our o-line injuries we muscle/soft tissue. With the small margins of most of our losses, these injuries are among the small bumps that prevent us from winning consistently.

It will still be a couple more years of aquiring quality depth in the off season (considering we've only really been doing so for the past 2 years) before it is no longer a primary issue for us. In the mean time, we need to do everything possible to keep our top-heavy roster as healthy as possible.

Does anyone know the status of our current strength/conditioning staff (John Hastings, Bobby Crumpler and Harrison Bernstein)? From what I've seen the past couple years, these guys need to be handed their walking papers.

While we're at it, why don't we just fire the janitors at Redskins Park?

[70Chip]

I have a somewhat related question regarding cramping. When a player gets cramps they give him an IV bag. So, why not just give all the players IV bags before every game? Is there some reason this would be a bad idea? Just wondering.

[MTK]

It seemed like it was an early season issue that got ironed out at some point.

[J. Spanky]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

While we're at it, why don't we just fire the janitors at Redskins Park?

what is that supposed to mean?

i've never been to redskins park, so maybe i'm missing something. but i'm pretty sure i've made a valid argument, and it seems like you're just attempting to be a smart-ass.

but... correct me if i'm wrong.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

I have a somewhat related question regarding cramping. When a player gets cramps they give him an IV bag. So, why not just give all the players IV bags before every game? Is there some reason this would be a bad idea? Just wondering.

Sounds a bit extreme. You don't want to over-hydrate either.

[SFREDSKIN]

I say bring back Dan Riley (he's with the Texans now) he was our S&C coach during the Gibbs I, until Casserly got canned and took him to Texas with him. That guy was great!!

[J. Spanky]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

It seemed like it was an early season issue that got ironed out at some point.

i considered that as well. but we had the same issue last year. so what, did they just suddenly figure out how to do their jobs properly midway through this season?

that may be an extreme indictment. but i just think that as long as we are making changes to the staff this season, this is the one change that really NEEDS to be made.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

I have a somewhat related question regarding cramping. When a player gets cramps they give him an IV bag. So, why not just give all the players IV bags before every game? Is there some reason this would be a bad idea? Just wondering.

We could do that. Expect the cost to be reflected in ticket prices.

[chrisl4064]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

I have a somewhat related question regarding cramping. When a player gets cramps they give him an IV bag. So, why not just give all the players IV bags before every game? Is there some reason this would be a bad idea? Just wondering.

That would be fine except now guys wouldnt hydrate at all the night prior, instead they would just rely on the IV. Just bad habit forming procedure imo. Its really not hard to keep yourself hydrated. and as an athlete it should be second nature. Cramping is inexcusable to me in the NFL.

[skinsnut]

Originally Posted by J. Spanky

Strength and Conditioning is an issue that I believe needs to be strongly addressed this season. Perhaps even to the extent of staff dismissal. The amount of muscle/soft tissue injuries this season is inexcusable. These are largely preventable injuries that cost us dearly.

Moss, Randle El, Smoot and several other players missed time due to injuries of this nature. If I'm not mistaken, most, if not all of our o-line injuries we muscle/soft tissue. With the small margins of most of our losses, these injuries are among the small bumps that prevent us from winning consistently.

Excellent points.
Many here were unhappy with all the cramping and pulls.
And though these issues, particularly cramping, declined, that can be attributed to declining temps.

My issue with training is on the offensive side of the ball with stretching.
There were a ton of Hammy's and pulls early in the season that impacted the team for multiple games. I asked at the time if there is a different conditioning coach for Offense because the D wasn't having this problem.
No one seemed to know the answer.

This is BASIC conditioning and it likely costed us a game or two.
I agree that this is a concern.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by J. Spanky

i considered that as well. but we had the same issue last year. so what, did they just suddenly figure out how to do their jobs properly midway through this season?

that may be an extreme indictment. but i just think that as long as we are making changes to the staff this season, this is the one change that really NEEDS to be made.

I wouldn't say they suddenly figured out how to do their jobs, unless you assume they are totally incompetent to start with.

I'd say they identified whatever problem there was and they corrected it.

[djnemo65]

While I agree that the injuries earlier in the year were extreme, I would like to hear from someone with medical expertise on the culpability of the training staff, since I have none myself, before I go advocating firing people. Continuity right people?

Spanky, why do you say these injuries were largely preventable? What should the training staff have done differently?

[J. Spanky]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

While I agree that the injuries earlier in the year were extreme, I would like to hear from someone with medical expertise on the culpability of the training staff, since I have none myself, before I go advocating firing people. Continuity right people?

Spanky, why do you say these injuries were largely preventable? What should the training staff have done differently?

first, i fail to see the value of maintaining continuity in this respect. we're not talking about developing a quarterback, here. we're talking about preventing "preventable" injuries. the job is either being done adequately or it isn't. in this case, i believe it is not.

second, i'm certainly not a medical expert, so i do not know what the team should be doing differently. especially since i don't know what they're doing in the first place. but soft tissue/muscle injuries are considered "preventable" because they are generally a result of insufficient or inadequate stretching (or none at all), poor conditioning, etc. as opposed to injuries like breaks or sprains which result, generally, from the excessive contact which is the nature of the sport.

this is why nobody can really be blamed for injuries like those suffered by brandon lloyd, carlos rogers or jason campbell. but the past few years we've been killed by pulls and strains. a team is bound to suffer some of these, occasionally, but we've fallen victim to an innordinate number.

i personally believe there is a direct connection between consistent success in the playoffs and the quality of a team's strength/conditioning staff. and as i stated in my initial post, we have a top-heavy roster, and until we can improve our depth it is imperative that we avoid unnecessary injuries. at most positions, there is too big of a drop off between the starter and the backup for us to overcome a large amount of injuries.

adequate depth takes years to acquire. this is a problem we can potentially fix in ONE off-season.