Triple jump is an odd event to do in the sport of track and field. It consists of running down the runway and hopping 3 times before landing in the sand pit. Just like any other sports, triple jump comes with its fair share of injuries. I did this event during track in high school and I seemed to always have problems with my ankles and shins. Doing this event seemed to put quite a bit of pressure on my feet and ankles with every hop that I had to do during it. Along with that came a fair share of injuries sustained by me and other athletes around me.
Putting pressure onto your feet can cause injury to the main bone in your heel called a bruised heel, making it hard to put any pressure onto it. This is an injury that can occur to any athlete that puts repetitive pressure onto their feet and ankles. Triple jump is one event that can easily cause a bruised heel. Like many other injuries, the best way to treat a bruised heel is to rest it and get ice on it. Try not to walk on the heel if possible and wait for the pain to go away. Crutches could help to stay off of it if that is needed. I've never personally had this injury but I know plenty of people who have had it.
I personally had problems with getting shin splints from this event. This even seems to be the most common injury that triple jumpers will get. Shin splints are when a persons shins become sore and inflamed. It makes their shins hurt and feel sore and possibly make them swell up. Triple jump is a high impact activity and because of that people who do triple jump can easily get shin splints. The repetitive contact on the ground from the little hops that are included in this event are what causes many people to get this injury. 2 of the 3 years that I did triple jump in track I ended up getting this injury. It always effected my performance in triple jump and I would get it about halfway throughout the season. Back then I had no idea why I was getting these but now I realize it was from putting too much pressure on my shins from the repetitive jumps. This is an injury that many jumpers can get from making that same mistake that I was making. A good way to try and heal shin splints is by just resting and icing the shin that has the injury. Depending on how bad the injury is changes how long rest will be required for it to be healed completely. If shin splints are ignored when an athlete first gets them then rest will be required for much longer.
Another common injury in triple jump is a sprained or broken ankle. Landing wrong on one of the jumps can easily cause this to happen. A sprained ankle is much more common to get than a broken ankle. I've never personally known anyone who has broken an ankle while doing triple jump but I have heard stories of it happening before. I have known people who have sprained their ankle though and it was simply because they didn't land right and damaged their ankle. For a broken ankle an athlete will need to go to the doctor and get it healed by wearing a cast. They will need to wear that cast for quite a while for it to properly heal. However, for a sprained ankle that won't be necessary. Enough rest on your own should be good enough to heal a sprained ankle. A small injury that can occur is a twisted ankle. This can easily be healed by staying off of it and resting and icing it just like a sprained ankle is.
There are multiple injuries that can occur from doing triple jump. I only ever had problems with getting shin splints and the occasional twisted ankle from landing weirdly. The main thing about getting injuries is knowing how to heal them. If you know what you're doing when healing the injury then it shouldn't be a big deal. Many people don't know what to do and they think they're doing the correct thing to fix their injury when really they're not. The main thing to remember for most injuries is to rest whatever is injured. That goes for injuries received doing the triple jump or anything else, resting is the best thing someone can do even if it's the least that they can do. Putting ice on it is another thing that helps in a lot of injuries but not necessarily every injury. Always make sure you know what is right for the specific injury that you might have. The main way to avoid injury in this event is to simply practice proper form and be careful while doing it. Don't overwork yourself either. If you get tired or are starting to feel signs of injury then stop. It's not worth it to keep practicing and getting injured because then you won't be able to do the event for quite a while during the time needed for the injury to heal. Although triple jump is an event that is susceptible to injury I still believe that it is a fun event and people should do it as long as they properly know how to avoid injury and heal any injuries they might get.
No comments:
Post a Comment