Literary Review

The Evolution of Sports Medicine Athletic Training

There are two types of Athletic Training. One is seen as a coach instructing or teaching an

exercise, the other is injury prevention and rehabilitation; otherwise know as Sports Medicine. Sports

Medicine is important, to athletes and the sports themselves, because the professionals in this field are

in charge of the safety of the sport and the over all health of athletes. This review's goal is to explain

and show ways in which sports medicine has evolved over the years. This area continues to find new

and better ways to keep athletes safe and healthy in their sport. Previously, this area did not require as

much medical involvement or knowledge (Delforge 1). Injury prevention and rehabilitation athletic

training added more medical involvement to its field which helped form the name Sports Medicine. It

has come a long way from where it started. Now a days, it is mandatory for all sports to have Athletic

Trainers on sports team staff and present at all practices and competitions as mandated by the National

Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) and all sports organizations. Athletic Training has expanded and

seen tremendous success as more medical experience and involvement has been incorporated. The

Sports Medicine athletic trainers work with athletes to educate them on proper and safe techniques of a

sport to hopefully prevent an injury from occurring, as well as, after evaluating an injury, explaining

what is injured, and create a recovery program.

The field of Sports Medicine Athletic Training specializes in helping athletes regain full health

and strength as well as create ways to prevent an injury from ever occurring. In order for the trainer to

help an athlete recover, there has to be a sense of trust between the two individuals. The athlete must

trust that the trainer knows what they are doing and will get them back out to play as soon as possible.

“Arguably, the key factor influencing the effectiveness of the rehabilitation process is the injured

athletes commitment to their program and the ability of the ATCs to enhance that commitment” (Craig

1). A side from the actual rehabilitation treatment, in order for the recovery to be successful, both the

athlete and the trainer need to understand one another and be willing and committed to the process.

Athletes should trust their trainers because of all the years of research and development have been

dedicated to this field of study. Even more so the Trainers should be trusted because the trainers have

used these methods and had success with getting other athletes to a full recovery. The methods used are

not set in stone steps, but are created uniquely for each individual athlete. This is one way in which

Sports Medicine continues to improve on old methods.

This continuation of advancement and improvement in Sports Medicine is carried out in many

ways. One of which includes conducting studies of the trainers in the profession. An example of a study

conducted for improvement in the field is a questionnaire that was given to athletic trainers. The

questionnaire assessed the mental attitudes and judgments trainers have and if that has an affect on the

presumed injury rehabilitation. This subject is important because attitudes affect the actions of how an

athlete will go about doing what the trainer suggest. “The questionnaire consisted of sixty statements

that were categorized into seven scales: Athletic trainers influence, environmental influence, athletes

personality, pain tolerance, self motivation, goals and incentives and significant others” (Craig 1). Feed

from questionnaire studies like this help the profession evaluate areas that need improvement and

contributes in the continual evolution and advancement in Athletic training. Another example of how

the field continues to improve is its research on water replacement for athletes. There are both benefits

and disadvantages of hydration. Without the research that was done on hydration a lot of athletes would

not know that they continually need to replace the fluids in there bodies. Since Athletes sweat more,

they need to drink more. But they also need to keep in mind there is a possibility of over hydration as

well. Over hydration or the consumption of too much water has serious side effects as well. (Casa 1).

The health and maintenance of an athletes body is a crucial role in their sport performance. Sports

medicine professionals not only work with the physical athlete but also with every sport and all the

sport encompasses.

Athletic trainers not only deal with the injury prevention and rehabilitation, they also look at the

safety and standards of the sport and the environment it is held in. Before the National Athletic Trainers

Association (NATA) created safety regulations of sports, there was not anything to stop a sport from

playing in unsafe conditions. Just as the association created the statement on water replacement and

how it has become a standard to keep hydration maintained, the development of sport safety has also

become a standard. These professionals, in the continual advancement of this field, figured out that not

only came the athlete injure themselves but the environment can play a big factor in the cause of an

injury.

Whether these professionals are dealing with weather extremes, over all health or injuries, we

know that the methods being used are the most up to date and efficient ways of dealing with the

situations. By conducting studies and giving out questionnaires, Sports Medicine is able to continue to

advance and better the profession. Although some of the things mentioned may seem like common

scenes, for the majority of the time, these things are not taken into consideration or cared for. Athletic

Trainers play an important role in sports because they take care of the athletes environmental,

emotional and physical being. The jobs of these trainers have become greater in importance due to the

realization in how helpful they are in this area. Because of the work they do and the continual research,

injury risk and over all health and safety of athletes continue to improve. The desire these professionals

have to continually improve this field will make Sports Medicine continually advancing with success

and evolving for the betterment of athletes and their sports.

Works Cited

Fisher, A. Craig, Sharon A. Mullins, and Patricia A. Frye. "Athletic Trainers' Attitudes and Judgments of Injured Athletes' Rehabilitation Adherence." Journal of athletic training 28.1 (1993): Web. 27 March 2014

Gary D. Delforge, and Robert S. Behnke. "The History and Evolution of Athletic Training Education in the United States." Journal of Athletic Training 34.1 (1999): 53. Web. 27 March 2014

Douglas J. Casa, Lawrence E. Armstrong, Susan K. Hillman, Scott J. Montain, Ralph V. Reiff, Brent S. E. Rich, William O. Roberts, and Jennifer A. Stone. "National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Fluid Replacement for Athletes." Journal of athletic training 35.2 (2000): 212. Web. 4 April 2014