Injuries Build Depth
November 27, 2019 at 12:43 a.m.
Injuries Build Depth
By Roger Grossman-
Injuries are a part of sports, and a part that are unfortunate for the team and that injured player. It means a pause in the season for that player, it means the end of a season for some and the end of a career for others.
But it’s part of the risk that athletes take when they participate.
As more and more coaches use the mantras “injuries build depth” and “next man (or woman) up”, the equal and opposite reaction of a team sports-related injury is that one player’s injury is another player’s opportunity.
When someone gets injured, a team does not suspend its season until that player gets healthy again. They don’t fold up shop and call it a season.
Well, at least physically they don’t.
Sometimes the emotion of losing a player is more than a team can overcome, and the younger the players on a team the more difficult an injury can be to get through. That’s a matter maturity, and we can all understand that, right? When a teammate goes down, it can be like suffering a loss. I would never compare it to the experience of a death in your family, but you can draw some clear parallels between the two.
So whether it’s a twisted ankle that puts a player out for a week or 10 days, or something more long-term, adjustments must be made. The coaches of that team will need to go to a plan B of who will replace the injured player and who will replace the player who replaced that player. The strategic scheme the coaches had been implementing is now void—for whatever length of time—and a new one must be devised and related to the remaining team members clearly and quickly, and that message must be received without any sense of doubt or mistrust by the players.
And then there is that player who is supposed to “step up.”
A team is assembled in a certain way by design. The 5, 6, 9 or 11 players (depending on what sport we are talking about) designated to start a game are there because they are the best a team has and give the team the best chance to win.
But the injury now means that someone who has not been starting now is starting. Sure, that player has been playing in games and contributing, but now it’s different because their role is different.
And trust me, starting and being a sub are very, very different. Anyone who tells you different is wrong.
A bench player gets the benefit of sitting or standing (if they are smart, they sit or stand as close to the coaches as possible) and watching the game at the start. They know what their team planned to do, and now they see what the other team is doing and they can see how what they do best fits into what is happening.
Plus, in 99-percent of the scenarios in team sports, the pressure on a starting player is significantly more than a substitute.
Who is the most popular player on a football team? The back-up quarterback. Why? No one expects anything from them!
But I also know that 99-percent of all subs want to be starters, and some of them (the percentage will vary) think that the coach made a mistake by not making them a starter in the first place.
So, here is your moment to prove your point.
In the event that the original injury was a short-term ailment, that player will eventually come back to the lineup. But the sub-now-starter getting extra time in a new role, and the player who became their back-up getting time they would not have gotten otherwise, can and should provide some lasting benefit.
In theory, that means the coaches got to see players play in roles and positions they would not have without the injury, and might lead to other options involving more players for the coaches in the future.
That ultimately makes the team deeper, stronger, better.
And getting better is the main point of a team (sports or otherwise), isn’t it?
Injuries are a part of sports, and a part that are unfortunate for the team and that injured player. It means a pause in the season for that player, it means the end of a season for some and the end of a career for others.
But it’s part of the risk that athletes take when they participate.
As more and more coaches use the mantras “injuries build depth” and “next man (or woman) up”, the equal and opposite reaction of a team sports-related injury is that one player’s injury is another player’s opportunity.
When someone gets injured, a team does not suspend its season until that player gets healthy again. They don’t fold up shop and call it a season.
Well, at least physically they don’t.
Sometimes the emotion of losing a player is more than a team can overcome, and the younger the players on a team the more difficult an injury can be to get through. That’s a matter maturity, and we can all understand that, right? When a teammate goes down, it can be like suffering a loss. I would never compare it to the experience of a death in your family, but you can draw some clear parallels between the two.
So whether it’s a twisted ankle that puts a player out for a week or 10 days, or something more long-term, adjustments must be made. The coaches of that team will need to go to a plan B of who will replace the injured player and who will replace the player who replaced that player. The strategic scheme the coaches had been implementing is now void—for whatever length of time—and a new one must be devised and related to the remaining team members clearly and quickly, and that message must be received without any sense of doubt or mistrust by the players.
And then there is that player who is supposed to “step up.”
A team is assembled in a certain way by design. The 5, 6, 9 or 11 players (depending on what sport we are talking about) designated to start a game are there because they are the best a team has and give the team the best chance to win.
But the injury now means that someone who has not been starting now is starting. Sure, that player has been playing in games and contributing, but now it’s different because their role is different.
And trust me, starting and being a sub are very, very different. Anyone who tells you different is wrong.
A bench player gets the benefit of sitting or standing (if they are smart, they sit or stand as close to the coaches as possible) and watching the game at the start. They know what their team planned to do, and now they see what the other team is doing and they can see how what they do best fits into what is happening.
Plus, in 99-percent of the scenarios in team sports, the pressure on a starting player is significantly more than a substitute.
Who is the most popular player on a football team? The back-up quarterback. Why? No one expects anything from them!
But I also know that 99-percent of all subs want to be starters, and some of them (the percentage will vary) think that the coach made a mistake by not making them a starter in the first place.
So, here is your moment to prove your point.
In the event that the original injury was a short-term ailment, that player will eventually come back to the lineup. But the sub-now-starter getting extra time in a new role, and the player who became their back-up getting time they would not have gotten otherwise, can and should provide some lasting benefit.
In theory, that means the coaches got to see players play in roles and positions they would not have without the injury, and might lead to other options involving more players for the coaches in the future.
That ultimately makes the team deeper, stronger, better.
And getting better is the main point of a team (sports or otherwise), isn’t it?
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