ask Doug…soreness, Pain And Injuries.

There have been a couple of questions about playing through pain. This is a really tough one.

First, as athletes Andy (and all athletes) will go through periods of soreness. That is only natural. It is important that you learn to recognize the difference between soreness and pain.

One easy way that I try to figure this out with athletes is like this: Is it affecting your play? Are you not able to run as fast, hit the ball as hard, etc.? And is the discomfort there all the time?

If you answer yes to all of the three above, it is pretty obvious that you are dealing with an injury. Playing with or through an injury is something all athletes experience at some point. What most of them find is that it just does not work.

When I worked with the ATP and dealt with most of the players on the Tour, I found something out: players would have a problem and they would try to play through it. Well with an injury they are not able to play at 100%. Therefore, more times than not, they would lose.

Also, because of the injury they would not be able to practice as much. They would sometimes spend weeks going to tournaments and losing because they were not physically right. Then a month down the road they have lost a lot of matches and their injury is even worse than it was to start with!

If they had managed to take a couple of weeks off and rehab the injury, they would have been much better off in the long run.

I guess what I am trying to say is listen to your body. If you are injured, take care of it now!!

Seek proper medical help. See a doctor who is a specialist in taking care of injuries to athletes. An orthropedic surgeon is a great place to start. If you are directed to get involved in a rehab program, do it.

An injury that is not taken care of could become a long and drawn out problem.

I hope this helps with this question, but if you need more help with this let me know.

I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Doug