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AGGRAVATION OF THE SPINE

INTRODUCTION

Injuries: In lawn bowls, traumatic injuries to the spine are relatively uncommon and most spinal problems arise by aggravating old injuries from using inappropriate delivery techniques. The majority of players suffer from minor aggravation by receptive stress of soft tissue structures; either resulting from previous sprains, strains, falls, accidents or a process of aging where discs degenerate and arthritic conditions prevail, and not to be excluded emotional reactions. The aim of this article is to briefly describe the various aspects of the anatomy and biomechanical movement and static positions that effect or aggravate previous deterioration of injuries.

The Cause: Aggravation of previous spinal injuries can be a devastating consequence to the lawn bowler’s participation. These areas, in many cases, are related to taking too long to deliver the jack or bowl, or inappropriate delivery actions as follows;

·        Not standing in an upright position,

·        Standing unbalanced too long in a static position e.g. leaning forward, delivery arm over extended and too high, weight on the balls of the feet etc,

·        Delivering from a crouched position,

·        Breathing incorrectly during the delivery action,

·        Muscular spasms from anxiety, stress or simply being uptight, a product of modern society.

Note: An overall examination would show that unnecessary excessive muscular stress is placed on the muscular system throughout the whole body partially in the respiratory, stomach and spinal area. The subsequent effect is that the sub-conscious mind is fully reacting to possible pain, balance and emotional reactions that affected the muscular system in the neck and shoulder areas of the spine. This makes it almost impossible for the player’s conscious mind to concentrate on the game.

The Absent Details of the Stance: Today most lawn bowls coaching manuals instruct players to adopt an upright stance and give great detail on how to step onto the mat; where and how to place the feet and arms, which way you should be facing, but relates to you little or nothing about how the body should be positioned. It is in fact, amiss of them not to explain about balance and stability e.g. adopt a comfortable position, well balanced and relaxed.

BALANCE AND STABILITY

Factors: All activities, whether stationary or mobile require balance. For example lawn bowlers require static balance when in the stance position and dynamic balance whilst in motion and the development of this capacity is essential in the delivery technique. High levels of balance in the stance position are dependent on the following factors;

• Base: when in the stance position the area of the base support should be maximised e.g. positioning the feet to create a stable platform from which to project the jack or lawn bowl
• Centre of Gravity: a comfortable upright stance position kept within its base support allows the body to move forward with ease of movement.
• Mass weight: this applies to the distribution of upper mass body weight over both feet (static balance)
• Time: Minimising time spent in the static balance position

Adopting a Stance Position: Placing both feet close together when in the stance position creates a narrow unstable base. It is better to take up a wide but comfortable position of the feet, not too wide and not too close, knees flexed but not bent, feet flat on the ground surface not on the balls of the feet, all these points aids the position of static balance. Thus the area of the base of support is maximized within the ability of the performer to control their posture. Obviously, an exaggerated base of support caused by the feet being positioned too far apart can restrict the performance of subsequent movements such as the forward direction of movement, alignment and the length of the delivery.

Determining a static balance position: To determine an approximate position of the feet for static balance and stability, just observe the spread of your feet each time you stop walking. The feet will automatically take up a comfortably position for static balance, The width will differ slightly according to the body mass, normally about 10 to 20 cm apart.

Resistance: If the centre of gravity is kept low and within the base of support, it is difficult for the lawn bowler to move the body freely forward e.g. a crouched position. If this is combined with a very wide base of support of the feet it will make it difficult for the bowler to shift the line of gravity outside this base. If the bowler achieves this and the forward movement takes place, then balance is lost and the supporting limbs must move sideways or at an angle to avoid a fall. Furthermore, a bowler’s inertia, or resistance to motion is determined by their body mass.

DANGER OF CROUCHING

Stress and physical fatigue: When a jack or lawn bowl delivery is commenced from a static crouched position the spine is bent forward in an arched position. Whilst in this static position the muscles of the spine and legs are locked in a very strained position and in many cases flexion takes place (the bending motion of the discs joints which brings the connected parts continually nearer together and the extension of action of any flex or muscle opposed to extension). If any prior injury or deterioration has taken place the flexion action may cause pain at the time or manifest at a later period after the event. When the delivery action commences from this position, except for the delivery arm, there is little or no body leverage and all movement force is empowered by muscular control and repeated action of this will causes joint stress and physical fatigue. Bending forward in the static position also has the same effect.

BREATHING

Cause and Effect: It is imperative that correct breathing take place during the delivery action because if the breath is held with the lungs full as the body bends forward it places extensive pressure on the stomach muscles, vertebra joints and displaces and stretches the soft tissue of the spine. This may also cause pain or loss of balance as the forward momentum moves the body to one side to relieve pressure. The spine is particularly susceptible to muscular tension because of the multiplicity of muscles involved in holding the body erect as you breathe in and hold your breath. This has the reverse effect as you breathe out; the density of pain is diminished, muscles relax and the body maintains it balance.

Remediation: This is simple; just inhale with the speed of the back swing, exhale with the forward delivery and extend the exhaling through to where it feels comfortable for you to stop during the follow-through action.

BACK EXERCISES

Statistics: Medical statistics show that our body height is shorter at night than in the morning, you may be surprised to find that it’s true. We lose height during the day and stretch back to our normal relaxed size while we are lying asleep. Unfortunately, as we get older, our spine still shrinks during the day but gradually lose the ability through body wear and tear to extend the spinal joints to the normal relaxed size at night.

We lose height because of continual compression of our inter-vertebral discs which squeeze the fluid from them. Inter-vertebral discs are “C” shaped cushions that sit in between each of our 26 vertebrae that make up our spinal column. Our discs are constantly being squeezed, squashed and shortened whenever we are vertical. If we’re moving around or weight-bearing as well, the load on our discs increases further.

Everything from carrying heavy bags to long walking session’s increases the pressure. With some of the discs compressing by a millimetre or two, especially in the lower back area, it is really no surprise that by tonight, some of us will be up to one point five centimetres shorter than we were this morning. Take a simple measure tomorrow and see for yourself. The following paragraphs lay out three exercises that relieve some of the stressful conditions of the back, hamstrings and neck areas.

Caution: It is advisable before engaging in any of the following exercises to consult your medical practitioner.

Exercise No 1: Applying our first stretching exercise you will notice that as soon as you lie on your back, you eliminate the force of gravity and reduce pressure on the discs. Try lying on your back for just a minute and engage yourself by rolling your knees from side to side in the following exercise. Lie down on your back, with your knees bent, your heels drawn in towards your buttocks and your arms extended outwards to each side, with palms resting downward on the floor. Keep your knees together and roll them slowly from side to side five times each way.

On the fifth roll, breathe in and hold the position with your lower knee touching or close to the ground as you can. As you hold for ten seconds, slowly breathe out and turn your head to the opposite side. You will feel the stretch right through your lower and middle back. This temporarily eliminates the compressing force and slightly expands the space between vertebrae, thus allowing your disc to expand back to their fullest extension. Rotate your knees to the opposite side and repeat this action. Practice this exercise once a day.

HAMSTRING EXERCISE

Hamstrings are the muscles at the backs of our thighs. They are the most susceptible to soreness and injury. While they do not actually get shorter as we age, they do lose elasticity and suppleness particularly if we don’t treat them right. Injuries to hamstrings occur not only in sport but in our every day life from navigating stairways, lifting ourselves out of chairs or working activities where bending or stretching our legs are involved. Many lawn bowlers after long sessions of play can relate to tight or sore leg or back muscles the following day. Like most body parts, hamstrings become restrictive through lack of activity or exercises and that’s why this second exercise is directed to maintaining elasticity and suppleness.

Exercise No 2: This exercise is very similar to lifting your foot onto an object to tie your shoe laces. Stand on one leg with your other foot resting on a chair or something of equal height. Lean forward keeping the leg on the chair bent at the knee. As you lean forward over the raised knee, slide both hands down your thigh past your knee and towards your ankle. While the more flexible you are, the closer you will get to the ankle, the exercise is equally beneficial for less mobile limbs as it is for contortionists. Hold for five seconds, then, leaving your hands where they are, slowly move your centre of balance onto your back foot, straightening your elevated knee as much or as little as you can. Your hamstring will leave you in no doubt that you are stretching the right places. Hold for another five seconds before relaxing and alternating legs.

Once you have done that, repeat the whole exercise so that you have performed two stretches for each leg. You may think and feel a little reluctant at the time but you will appreciate it the next time you need to use them during your next zealous physical action, prolonged working or sporting activity. 

NECK EXERCISE

This exercise is designed to alleviate that proverbial stiff neck. While there are many causes, a good number are self inflicted; the inability to cope with pressure, poor posture or working in a sitting position. These are irritating things that could ruin your day. The exercise that follows will be most effective in relieving a lot of the stiffness and soreness in and around the neck and shoulder area.

Exercise No 3: This exercise creates a small amount of temporary tension to help release a large amount of chronic tension. Place your thumbs gently on your Adams apple and wrap your fingers around your neck. Nod your head slightly forward as if you were looking at your toes and apply a firm upward pressure with your hands.

The idea here is, not to pull your head off your shoulders or cut off your breathing or circulation but to lift and stretch your neck muscles rather than squeezing. Hold the pressure for ten seconds then relax. Hopefully, you will feel the tension reduce almost immediately. Leave your hands in place ready for the next step.

Prepare for the second part of the exercise by lifting your head so that you can look directly above you. Now repeat the moderate lifting pressure for ten seconds. Again you will feel the tension reduce as soon as you release the stretch. Bend your head forward and repeat while looking down, then conclude your stretch with another ten seconds with your head extended and looking up. This should make four neck stretches in all to complete the exercise.

Conclusion: Remember it only takes few minutes of your time in each day and in three easy exercises to remove; chronic tension, stress, pressure, ease poor posture, prevent injury, relieve muscular soreness and be supple and more relaxed.