Sportsmen: Preserve yourself!

On the sidelines of the Intercontinental Cup of Padel 2019 in Dakhla, we took the opportunity to interview the famous Toulouse osteopath and professor of biomechanics at the Toulouse Institute of Osteopathy (ITO): Jean-Luc Charrier.

This specialist in “knowledge of movement” and padel enthusiast looks back at the evil that can eat away at athletes and gives us some advice on how to last.

Beginning of the interview: https://padelmagazine.fr/mieux-jouer-au-padel-plus-longtemps-possible/

Padel Magazine : "Can you tell us a concrete example of injuries during a test?"

Jean-Luc Charrier: "In padel, we see many athletes having little physical problems. For example, I hope she will forgive me (laughs), at the French Padel Open last September, we saw Alix Collombon, the French padel champion, encounter a few little problems.

Alix is supposed to have a permanent medical follow-up which normally should allow her to avoid the worries she had on her knee.

Off, obviously, I realized that the supervision and the consultations in the field of osteopathy are certainly not so frequent. Knowing that a sportsman who trains very regularly must see at least once a month an osteopath to optimize postural harmony and work in the most fragile and stressed areas.

I am obviously on Padel Magazine. And I'm glad to see that she is doing well. Congratulations for his career. She seems to have a very intense sporting life. I hope she will preserve herself and that she will be able to make us a beautiful (who is already!) And a long career. "

PM: “So, can the Osteopath make padel playing better?”

JLC: “It would be pretentious to say that, but in a way: Feeling good in your body, feeling good in your padel, if we stay in padel.

And sometimes, some athletes may have actions or ways of playing that destroy. My job, it will be here to find once again the best postural solution for the good of the athlete in the short and especially long term. "

PM: "At this Intercontinental Cup, we saw you heal your shoulders ..."

JLC: "A sportsman who comes to see us for a shoulder, the osteopath will try to make a global point on the body to seek with the sportsman, the best postural solution. Sometimes the solution to have a better fluidity in his shot is to work another area.

Sports coaches know it better than anyone: Traveling is very important. The lower limbs are as important as the upper limbs. There is a functional interrelation between all the joints.

In padel, sudden and short movements require proprioception (the ability of the joints to inform the brain of various optimal postural solutions).

We must optimize this system because high-level padel is a hyper-physiological context (the joint is pushed to the extreme and must compensate). The athlete must therefore organize his movements to be less injured, more efficient and recover better afterwards.”

PM: “The multiple world champion of Argentine padel, Paula Eyheraguibel has often called upon your services…”

JLC: “She is a great champion. Unfortunately, and she confirmed this to us, her involvement in padel has not been as closely monitored as the medical aspect.

I tried to treat Paula Eyheraguibel's lower limb imbalance as a result of Achilles tendon injury. The question that can be asked: Why did his tendon explode?

His training, his hard physical work took precedence over the preventive aspect of medical support.

That is why it is very important to listen to your body in order to be able to last a long time in the most optimal form. In biomechanics, there is bodily intelligence and knowledge of movement. Learning to position yourself better, learning to adapt a stroke to your own physical constraints can play a crucial role in your career. ”

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.