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Sports and Inches - by Jon-Ann Wilson
 A
fraction of an inch can make a difference in a competition. It may
be the difference between winning a Gold Medal or the Bronze. It may
be the difference between winning or losing. When I worked as the
Team Sports Therapist at the Tryon 2018 World Equestrian Games, I
witnessed this fine line caused by inches. A world class rider had
the Gold Medal in hand, until the last rail, at the last phase, of
the challenging 3 Day Event. The horse knocked the last rail in the
show jumping phase costing the rider the Gold Medal and dropping her
down to the Bronze. The crowd was aghast. The horror of losing the
Gold on the last rail conveys that all sports can be about inches. A
few inches cost this rider and her country the Individual Gold
Medal.
What causes something as devastating as
losing the Gold or losing a competition? There are a multitude of
reasons. It can be a slight mistake, riding, loss of stamina, etc,
but from my perspective it can be from simple muscle tightness as
well. If a muscle is tight it will create resistance to motion.
Resistance can cause inaccuracy, fatigue, imbalance, lack of
endurance, diminished reflexes, oxygen debt. I am not suggesting in
the case sited above this was the reason the horse knocked the rail,
it is purely an example of how delicate a balance of sport and
inches can be.
The greater the muscle tightness, the greater
the resistance to motion. All horses and athletes must be loose to
be mechanically efficient to successfully perform the required task.
The looser they are, the better they will perform, the longer they
will last. |
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