Temper expectations of Covid-19 impacted athletes

A physiotherapist is calling for sports fans to show compassion if athletes fail to meet expectations when they return to competition after a Covid-19 impacted build-up.

Athletes competing in New Zealand and overseas during the pandemic faced various forms of lockdown, Managed Isolation and Quarantine or compromised training situations over the past two years as governing bodies and competition organisers tried to keep sports events on schedule.

Preparing for major events in the confines of a hotel room or back-to-back isolation stints can "negatively impact an athletes preparation both physically and mentally", physio Sharon Kearney said.

"The Covid MIQ or lockdown process is not normal for any athlete, there needs to be a level of understanding when things do not go as hoped and planned for it is not for want of planning or processes.

"In some cases MIQ or lockdown is so 'not normal' some athletes will fail to transition successfully through this and optimise their performance. In these cases we need to exercise compassion."

International examples showed athletes returning to competition after isolation were at greater risk of injury.

An extended layoff lead to Major League Baseball players' injury rate nearly doubling compared to the rate in seasons prior to Covid-19.

The NFL cut its pre-season in 2020 and injuries rose during the first week of the regular season.

Germany's Bundesliga football competition was one of the first leagues to return to play but researchers found that athletes were three times as likely to sustain injuries following the Covid-19 lockdown.

Upcoming changes to New Zealand's border restrictions meant isolation times for international visitors and returning New Zealanders would decrease.

However, Kearney said different athletes' bodies responded differently to the compromised training and there was no simple answer to navigating the situation successfully.

"There will be a element of deloading and the impact of this is complex.

"If an athlete has trained hard pre-MIQ for example a refreshing time on a decreased load may act as a freshen up period and may not have much of a negative response initially.

"However if MIQ is beyond a week then the length of deloading becomes a factor."

Cricketers arriving in New Zealand from seven nations for the Women's Cricket World Cup which starts in March will have to enter MIQ.

"The MIQ is the variable everyone has the least control over so excellent planning for training before and after the MIQ is the key," Kearney said.

"In most cases, leading into a major event all or most of the hard work is done in the months or years beforehand.

"The last few weeks is fine tuning. Hence, if the focus of the restricted build up is quality execution versus quantity of loading - this can place less physical demands on the athlete and risk of injury is mitigated somewhat.

"Each team, support crew, medical team and athlete will do whatever is humanly possible, in extenuating circumstances, to transition through MIQ to optimise performance - however we can not expect normal [body] responses.

"The MIQ set up is very foreign. Ensuring the psychological wellbeing of the individual athletes will be important and also their psychological readiness to return to play must be factored in."

The six New Zealand-based Super Rugby Pacific sides are headed into bubbles in Queenstown ahead of the season kick-off this month, a move New Zealand Rugby hoped would limit the impact of Covid-19 on the competition.

The pre-season would be different to originally planned for the franchises and Kearney said the strength and conditioning and medical teams will have worked through all the "what ifs" in detail.

"With the level of professionalism at this level of sport, they have the expertise to manage and navigate through these scenarios as best as they can.

"Trusting their preparation will be key, considering every what if vital, and then focussing on quality versus quantity as they evolve out of [team bubbles] imperative."

It was not just professional athletes that were in danger of being under-prepared when they returned after an enforced time away from sport.

"We were concerned that the lack of team training and conditioning in what's usually the pre-season could lead to more sportspeople being injured when lockdowns lifted," ACC injury prevention specialist Natalie Hardaker said.

"We were particularly concerned about ACL injuries which can end a person's sporting career."

ACC data showed July and October 2020 were the only months with significant increase in soft tissue injuries compared to previous years.

Soft tissue injuries - like sprains, strains and pulled muscles - make up the bulk of most sports-related ACC injury claims each year.

"The work you do outside of match time is what protects you from injury while you're on the field," Hardaker said.

"Do your dynamic warm up before playing and focus on getting your skill level to where it needs to be. Teams that avoid injury are more likely to win."

Hardaker said the data shows soft tissue injuries spike each winter, coinciding with team sport seasons.