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Post by hgvavolleyball on Nov 3, 2011 16:06:36 GMT -5
At what age should players start wearing Active Ankles?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2011 16:31:36 GMT -5
Some like myself would say never until a reason to arises. As a college coach though you want your kids to have some kind of protection in a fast and furious game. We lift and train without our ankle guards, and play with them on. I would say after they are done growing is best so you aren't buying them new ones cause they don't fit or something. If they have never had an ankle injury, I would be more inclined to recommend something less rigid to start. The ASO and Zamst ankle guards work pretty well.
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Post by insidecollegevb on Nov 4, 2011 6:59:41 GMT -5
I tend to agree with atomheartmother. Wearing the supports can hinder development of ankle strength. And even if some support is desireable, taping may be the better choice (I'm not a trainer, so I'm not saying it is, just may be in a given player's situation).
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Post by Not Me on Nov 4, 2011 8:02:46 GMT -5
While I agree that young athletes need to strengthen their bodies and ankles, I don't think you can be too young to wear active ankles. If the player is physical, jumping a lot, and at the net, then I would say she should start wearing them.
All it takes is one opponent under the net, and a player landing on them to cause a long-lasting injury. The more protection you can have in those situations, the better.
And yes, I have heard the anecdotal stories about the force being so hard, that while the ankle was saved, the knee was ruined. Those kind of things are so few and far between. But how many times do you see someone land awkwardly, yet walk away from it because of an ankle brace? Many more times.
BTW,did you ever notice how many college football linemen wear rigid knee braces during the games? At the top schools, I think it is pretty much all of them. That is, I'm sure, for injury prevention. And you can't say those guys need to get stronger. All they do is lift.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2011 8:34:09 GMT -5
Tape loses it's effectiveness after 20 mins, so not really a good choice, I'm not putting you down inside, but tape is something more ritualistic/habitual than preventative. I just think some young kids won't fill out a small or x-small active ankle brace. If you are taking about 9-12 y/o kids I would say no to a rigid brace unless a previous injury warrants. They are still so flexible and pliable that soft brace would still offer them protection and allow them to use some of those stabilizing structures to develop strength.
A 6Ft, 200# lineMAN in FB is way different than a 75# girl jumping around with 11 other girls of similar size. But I do see where you are coming from. I'm not so naive as to risk injury to one of our college kids, but I don't mandate the rigid brace. Some kids move faster with a soft brace that provides protection and support although not rigid; protection is available. I was just pointing out there are different options out there since every kid is different you don't always have to settle for the AA brand if it doesn't fit your kid, and if your kid is still growing, well.
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Post by karellen on Nov 4, 2011 9:16:35 GMT -5
My daughter is a freshman in high school. She wanted to get ankle braces for the season. I told her no. She has never had an injury and she does not need them at this point.
However, I am also a college coach. I prefer my athletes are in ankle braces every day -- active ankles are my choice. If those do not fit an athlete's foot very well for some reason, our athletic trainers have other alternatives.
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Post by recoil on Nov 4, 2011 9:20:09 GMT -5
At what age should players start wearing Active Ankles? When they start to jump a lot next to other players. Definitely high school age, but some middle school girls play at this level. Playing front row without active ankles is an ankle injury that is going to happen, and you can set your watch to it. |
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Post by c4ndlelight on Nov 4, 2011 9:25:41 GMT -5
Whenever they reach the age that the middles start getting really active trying toclose the block but aren't proficient enough to set up correctly and start floating into their pin hitters. That's a million ankle injuries waiting to happen.
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Post by ESTRELLA on Nov 4, 2011 10:52:12 GMT -5
At what age should players start wearing Active Ankles? NEVER unless you are in the process of healing the injured ankle. There have several written papers about this subject, but from the physical standpoint or even a mecahnical standpoint think about this. The ankle is a joint that is in place to allow certain movements to happen. That joint is also attached to other joints by the lower leg, knee joint, upper leg, etc. If you restrain the movement of the ankle joint which experiences torsion, tension, compresion or even shear forces/loads...the forces and loads have to go someplace else. I prefer to have the ankle experience the force/load that will be above what the ankle allowable is because if not...it could go someplace else or incur in a ultimate load violation = failure = break. Estrella  |
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Post by Phaedrus on Nov 4, 2011 13:08:42 GMT -5
The ankle brace is just a prophylactic, something to prevent massively destructive injuries. The most devastating of which is landing on the opponent's foot after blocking or hitting. Those injuries may increase now that they have changed the interpretation of the centerline rule.
It is my experience that the ankle braces that are popular are not so rigid as to cause the kind of domino effects that Estrella describes, and there as many studies that refute the studies that he is citing as there are supporting his conjecture.
Most biomechanist and PTs are really of two minds about the ankle brace itself. Most are proponents of using the braces as a prophylactic. The problem with the braces are that many will become dependent on the brace for support, i.e. they don't do any preventive ankle strengthening exercises so that their dependency on the ankle braces are minimized. The catastrophic injury usually happen when the ankle itself is too weak to withstand the sprain and the brace is the only thing supporting the ankle.
The most sensible advice I have heard is the following:
1) Use the braces only when playing or practicing volleyball.
2) Actively exercise and strengthen the ankles as a part of the daily work out routine. Treat it as a part of the daily workout.
3) Think of the brace as a temporary support and not as the solution to ankle problems.
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Post by bulldogskev on Nov 4, 2011 13:49:26 GMT -5
Don't get ankle braces unless there was an injury to the ankle. Wearing ankle bases increases the chance of knee injuries like a torn ACL.. I'd take a sprained ankle over a torn ACL any day!
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Post by hgvavolleyball on Nov 5, 2011 8:59:53 GMT -5
A lot of good info and a lot to think about. Our High School makes them mandatory while our club ball just recommends them. Hmmm.
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Post by Not Me on Nov 5, 2011 9:06:58 GMT -5
Don't get ankle braces unless there was an injury to the ankle. Wearing ankle bases increases the chance of knee injuries like a torn ACL.. I'd take a sprained ankle over a torn ACL any day! If the force of an action is enough to tear an ACL, what would it do to the ankle if it wasn't protected? If the force of an action is enough to break a leg, what would it do to the ankle if it wasn't protected? I'm sure it would be much more than sprained ankle. How often are kids in situations where the force of the action is so severe as it would cause a major injury? Compare that to how often kids are in a situation where they land awkwardly, and the protection of an Active Ankle would prevent the injury? |
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Post by hgvavolleyball on Nov 5, 2011 12:56:04 GMT -5
From what I've been told, with active ankles you do increase the risk of a high ankle break but the chances are much smaller that happening than hurting your ankle while not wearing the Active ankles.
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