OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Morning,
Just thought Id share my experience and advice having gone through an Achilles rupture and recovery.

A couple of years ago I started training heavily after a long period of no activity. I was in the habit of just going out and playing. Not stretching often.

I just jumped on the court one day cold and started playing. Within the first 10 minutes of warming up I lunged for a BH chop and heard a LOUD sound like a gunshot. I remember falling and trying to get up, but my foot was flopping around and so the gang got me sitting down right away with some ice.
After the hospital visit, I had a cast put on for months, then transferred to a adjustable boot to stretch the tendon after healing.
It was a sucky 3/4 yr recovery, but I didn't miss a TT session. I was able to block for others with one leg on a chair and it really helped me in the long run..lol
Eventually I recovered and was back at playing ball. The most important thing in the recovery was stretching and lots of ice after playing.
I'd like to say that this could have been prevented, with good habits and routines.
Don't forget to stretch, especially if you are over 40! LOL.
To this day its weak and doing better, but it will never be the same.
Stretch guys.... don't forget.
Cheers

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Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.

Wow - what an experience. Thanks for sharing that. We're not invincible, and it behoves us to remember that!

What stretches do you recommend prior to playing / training?

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"When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the Way."

Read my blog: "LordCope's Latest Learnings Log": http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=24452

Good ques. LC,
I say any calf stretching routine works. Just as along as you do it.
One more point, if you have muscular calves, you better stretch. Reason being, when your muscles contract, they put even more pressure on the tendon!
If that tendon is cold, its a risk.

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Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.

Sleepy,

Thanks so much for your description of your achilles tendon injury.

You can read about my achilles tendon injuries at viewtopic.php?f=68&t=22639 Reb wrote many posts about his experiences with this terrible injury. He also has interesting comments on my post.

I just want to write something about stretching. I discussed stretching with my physical therapist. As he told me, and you can read peer review articles on the web, it is unclear whether there is any benefit to stretching, and in fact, for some activities stretching can increase the chance of injury. For example, a study on the impact of stretching on runners found that those who stretched prior to running had a larger frequency of injuries compared to those that did no stretching. However my physical therapist told me this study did not distinguish between runners with different abilities. He said that the quality of peer review research on stretching is weaker than in many other areas, and so one is usually on their own in terms of guidance on the benefit of stretching. He said that nowadays most experts would recommended simple warm-up exercises without stretching. Nevertheless, because of my knee pain, he has suggested some stretching exercises after warming up, which do seem to be helpful for me.

There was a study done in France, I believe, which examine 29 cases where table tennis players completely ruptured their achilles tendon. If I recall correctly, the mean time of the injury was 45 minutes after starting to play table tennis. As a result, the author felt that warming up probably wasn't a key factor in causing the ruptured achilles tendon. My physical therapist said that most likely these injuries arise from tired and weak achilles tendons and calf muscles that can't handle the load being applied. However, as he noted, there are multiple possible causes of achilles tendon ruptures. My concern is that I am predisposed to this type of injury because it has happened to me twice. As the saying goes, the best predictor of a future injury is a previous injury.

Steven

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Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk
Butterfly Tenergy 80-FX 1.9mm
TSP Curl P1R 1.4-1.7mm
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Returned to table tennis September 2011
Canada National Team Member, 1973-1975
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1972-1987
Brickell Balsa/Birch 3-ply Blade
Yasaka Mark V 1.5mm
Joola Toni Hold AntiTopspin 2.5mm

My calves had always been larger than most people's. The calf on the leg where the rupture occurred is now half the size of the other. Mine snapped going down to chop a ball back in doubles, and my legs were well warmed up for the night. I think the pressure the calf put on the achilles trying to get up from the chop was what snapped it.I haven't repeated the specific action I took for that chop in the 5 years since

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

My calves are the size of my wrists and if you've seen my wrists you know I won't be breaking my Achilles from excessive calf power anytime soon .

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Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

Wiry guys like you foam, don't usually snap anything besides the mind

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Lol, you think I'm crazy wait till you meet my son. The kid is already noticeably not normal, he's screams like he's pushing out a 500lb bench press whenever his hands won't do what his mind wants them to do. Cracks me up,he's very aggressive. He's tiny too. Everyone tells me he's so alert, must be genius for a four month old... I say that's because he's six months old:p

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Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

how painfull was the rupture on a scaöe of 1-10?

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Blade: Der-Materialspezialist Deluxe Carbon Forehand RITC Friendship 802 2.2 Backhand Der-Materialspezialist Reflection 0.9