LEARN HOW YOU CAN BEST PREPARE FOR A NO-INJURY LACROSSE SEASON

Detroit Mercy and University of Nottingham (UoN) alumni, Emily Beazley, is a pro at bouncing back from major injuries and returning even stronger. The England field lacrosse international underwent an incredible hip operation just a few years ago which took her from being an active lacrosse scholar to being unable to walk unaided for months. After some tremendous physiotherapy and rehabilitation, Beazley returned to the field and even earned a spot on the England U23 squad ahead of moving to the UK permanently to complete a Masters degree and play lacrosse at UoN. It wasn’t more than a few months into the season when Beazley suffered another blow, this time rolling her ankle so severely that she was unable to play lacrosse for the majority of her only season at Nottingham. Rather ironically, Beazley was studying sport and exercise science with a view of becoming a qualified physiotherapist at the time, no doubt learning a thing or two from her time as a patient.

We’re pleased to see Emily back in action for Team England senior women and Blues Lacrosse Club where she dominates the field at the defensive end, and are delighted to share her knowledge on how you can prevent injuries this season. After all, prevention is always better than cure.

As a student physio, Emily Beazley has taken on research for the prevalence of injuries within lacrosse, and part of her study has revealed that there is a vast difference in injury reporting between men and women. Beazley explains how injury surveillance highlights that men are more likely to report injuries such as sprains, strains, concussions, and contusions, whereas women primarily report lower extremity sprains, strains, and internal knee damage. The anterior cruciate ligament (commonly known as ACL), and the medial collateral ligament (thankfully also commonly known by its shorter descriptor, MCL) are two of the more commonly reported lower-limb injuries, accompanied by meniscus and ankle injuries.

I can almost guarantee that anyone reading this knows someone - or is someone - who is currently undergoing treatment for a lacrosse related injury, so understanding what we can do to help avoid these issues from occurring is paramount. But in order to prevent injury, we must first take a look at the primary muscles used in lacrosse.