Dr. Yessis Sports Training Blog

When it comes to diagnosing an injury and prescribing a fix (usually surgery) for the injury, doctors typically do a fairly good job, especially those who are trained in this area. Some of these doctors are now getting into the training of an athlete.

Are they qualified to discuss or direct the training of an athlete? The answer here is a big no! Doctors should be involved in rehabilitation but not guiding the training of an athlete.

In order to do this they must go through the same training as a scientifically based coach or kinesiology instructor — but only if it is an advanced program. If the doctor does not understand what is involved in sports technique or how to evaluate the biomechanics of the movement or know about strength and explosive training etc., he or she is ill-equipped to guide the training of an athlete.

But we find this happening with increasing frequency — and I speak from personal experiences here. For example, some baseball personnel asked me to help guide the training of some of their athletes and to take care of particular problems such as pulled hamstrings.

I was happy to do this but was stymied when my work had to be run by the doctor who could not understand what was involved in the cause of the injury or how it should be treated. The doctor would not allow any exercises to be done unless they had his blessing.

The medical doctors only understood some of the basic elements of injury causes and treatment with strength exxercises that they probably learned in a sports injury seminar. They did not understand how the muscles were involved or why a particular exercise was needed. And they did not care to find out the reasons for them.

But yet, teams rely on medical personnel to direct their training. No one is allowed to do anything without the okay of the doctor. This I believe is wrong and leads to additional problems. But if doctors could be educated in the technical and physical aspects of the sport, I believe they could play a valuable role in not only the prevention of injury but in the treatment of injury.

For more information on this topic see Secrets of Russian Sports Fitness and Training and Russian Sports Restoration and Massage.