Udupi: Kerala cagers undergo tests at Manipal Varsity’s sports science lab

Bellevision Media Network

Udupi, 09 Jul 2016: Seven of ten players of the Kerala State Electricity Board women’s basketball team are here for three days undergoing scientific tests to prevent injury and improve performance, at the new sports science medicine lab set up here at Marena, the indoor sports complex of Manipal University. Dr Fiddy Davis J, Associate Professor and head, department of exercises and sports sciences at School of Allied Health Sciences said; ‘This is the first assignment of the department where national and state level players are making use of the facility to evaluate endurance, speed, strength and other parameters of sports persons.’   

 

The team, based in Thiruvananthapuram has three players; Stephy Nixon, Jeena and Anjana who are currently playing for the country. All others are in the state team. Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has won four major all-India tournaments this year and was runners-up in two. Dr Fiddy said that a series of tests were done to assess the baseline status of players. ‘After that, the faculty of the department will plan a six-month training schedule for the team,’ he said and added, ‘The department came into existence in August 2014 and we have set up this lab recently. We plan to expand the facilities and make it one of the best centres for sports science in the country.’

 

 

While appreciating the facilities available here, Coach Aju Jacob said that he had not seen such a facility elsewhere in the country. He was told about this Centre at a tournament so he decided to bring his players here. ‘As I feel the players can improve their performance after these assessments,’ Aju said.

 

On Thursday, the first day, the players were assessed for medical contra-indications and existing musculoskeletal injuries. Following this, speed and agility, specific to basketball was tested. After a break, the players underwent strength testing at the gymnasium in Marena. Maximal strength measurement is a pre-requisite for resistance training at an optimal intensity. Following this test, the players were taken to the Human performance lab and their aerobic capacity was tested.

 

They were made to exercise on a specialized bike with increasing intensities of exercise, while the metabolic chart measured their maximal ability to utilize oxygen. Even though basketball is considered as an anaerobic sport, a strong aerobic base will help players recover from repeated bouts of anaerobic activities. This test was performed by Baskaran Chandrasekaran, a faculty who is an American College of Sports Medicine certified Exercise Physiologist.

 

The players were made to perform four activities which correlate to the movement in basketball like jumping, landing and cutting to assess injury risk. These activities were captured by high speed motion analysis system. The clips were exported to a benchmark motion analysis software and was assessed by a biomechanist. The results and interpretation of this test will go a long way in predicting injury risk in future as the data is used to design strategies to prevent injuries.

 

The players who are here are: Stephy Nixon, Rojamol, Shilji George, Jeena P S, Anjana P G, Prami P Lal, Amrutha, Sreedevi P R (manager) and Aju Jacob (coach). Ashey Mathew, Grima Merlin Varghese and Minnu Maria Joy were unable to come as they were indisposed.