Your coach may have referred you to Cottesloe Sports Physiotherapy for a musculo skeletal screening. What is it?
Over the years, Sports Physiotherapists treating Australia’s elite athletes in all sports ranging from the Olympic sports to AFL have developed a series of tests relevant to their particular sport that can be completed in the physiotherapy clinic. This determines two important factors:
- The athletes risk of injury, and
- What the athlete must do to improve their performance
Over recent years, Cottesloe Sports Physiotherapy’s Practice Principle, Brett Slocombe, has been heavily involved in streamlining the screening process for two Australian Olympic Sports – swimming and kayaking. Each year he screens athletes from the Australian Teams in both sports in addition to all WAIS (Western Australian Institute of Sport) athletes. This information is used along with direct observation such as on-water or underwater filming performed by the Biomechanics Department. Other input from coaches can then all combine to optimise the athlete’s body for performance and injury prevention.
The Musculoskeletal Screening service is also available to the general public and is not only limited to those two Olympic sports.
Screenings take 45 minutes, but please leave an hour to be safe. Athletes should wear appropriate clothing to allow full assessment. For men, shorts and for women shorts and crop top or bathers is appropriate. You will be given a full list of findings and a list of recommendations/exercises addressing the issues that have been identified. As a general rule, follow up from an initial musculo skeletal screening will occur 3 months after the initial screening to re-assess and determine if the exercises/recommendations are working. Some hands on physiotherapy (manual therapy) may be required, to improve your muscle activation patterns, posture or spinal alignment.
The screening results will be sent to your coach on request complete with photos of special screening findings and exercises.
If you have any further questions please ring and speak to one of the physiotherapists or please leave an email in the contact us section.
