A FEW weeks ago, I had to produce a presentation for my Physiotherapy degree through the University of Ulster. The remit for the presentation was to choose a topic or area within the health sector that is a current problem/issue both for the patients themselves and the NHS as a whole. It could be about anything to do with a person’s health, or the services provided by the Heath Service.

We were to research our selected topic to learn more about the issue, therefore giving us a better understanding of the background of the problem.

From this we needed to explain the extent of the issue, what are the current strategies to combat our selected issue and what could or should be done differently. At the end we were required to supply either a research question or a research proposal that could or would further the research evidence within our chosen issue.

The subject we decided to go with could be the beginning of our dissertation as the same work or issue could be carried through and used in our final (third) dissertation. Our lecturer advised that for this reason it may be prudent to select a subject area that we have some form of interest in to ensure we had a motivating factor involved.

The area I selected to use for my presentation is one that I had been sitting on from the very first day of the degree course.

On the very first day of the course, we were gathered in a large room for our course Induction. On the tables in front of us were pens, paper, and name tags for us to write our names on. Also, on the tables was copies of a magazine published monthly by the governing body of physiotherapists (Chartered Society of Physiotherapists).

Their monthly publication is called ‘The Frontline’ and is packed full of aspects of physiotherapy.

In this edition there was an article about a Dutch physiotherapy team who had created a novel way to handle an area of health that massively affects the health service on a yearly basis. That is – falls by the elderly.

Every year, 30 percent of people over the age of 65 and 50 percent of those over 80 have at least one fall per year. It was estimated that hospitalizations from elderly people falling accounted for four million bed days per year with up to 3600 hospital beds being occupied by elderly fallers at any one time. This has an estimated cost of two billion pounds on the National Health Service.

The current strategy aims to prevent these falls before they happen through a number of various techniques. While prevention is a good strategy to focus on, it cannot guarantee that no more elderly people will ever fall again.

In an article within ‘The Frontline’ magazine, a Dutch team of physiotherapists had created a novel way to reduce the injury risk for elderly patients who fall. They used judo.

Judo is a martial arts discipline that use throws and holds to better one’s opponent. But before any throws or holds are learned by those learning this discipline, participants are first taught how to fall correctly and safely to ensure the risk of injury is minimalized. Reading further into the article it explained that teaching the elderly how to use martial arts falling techniques to turn their fall into more of a roll that will reduce their risk of injury.

So, what is involved? As in judo, participants fall repeatedly in a safe way by relaxing their body, consciously thinking about spreading the impact over the widest possible body area while curving their back into a ‘C-shape’ with their arms crossed across their chest and the chin pulled downwards.

The technique they use is very similar to the technique I use to teach goalkeepers how to dive correctly and without hurting themselves, while also being able to return to their feet without the use of their hands. Once I read this article, I began to do more and more research into other martial arts falling techniques to see if there was anything that I could incorporate both into my own game and my coaching.

I also read an article back in 2015 about how Irish MMA fighter, Conor McGregor, had trained with Cirque de Soleil acrobats so he could improve his movement and more specifically his movement returning from the mat to his feet. In this article he discussed how these acrobats trained how to return to their feet without the use of their hands so they could use them to continue their acrobatic performance. I incorporated this into my pendulum roll technique so as to leave a goalkeeper’s hands free to deal with any rebounds or second shots as they return to their feet from their initial dive/save.

My father had fantastic phrase that he loved. “You laugh at me because I’m different, I laugh at you because you’re all the same!” My message this week is simple. Don’t be afraid to look for inspiration in the most unusual of places. Never be afraid to try new and outrageous things, if they work that is great, if they don’t that’s also great. So, if you have any ideas or approaches that may be seen as exuberant or eccentric but haven’t used them for fear of ridicule. Forget about that and just ‘Dive Right In!’

Email: pmgoalkeeping@hotmail.com

Facebook: @MSoG11

Twitter: @MorSchGk