By Laura Gordon
Sports massage has been an ongoing and developing modality long before the Greeks initiated the Olympics. Preparing the athlete for an event and maintenance afterwards is the bread and butter of the spot massage therapist.
The benefits of sports massage include: increasing range of motion, flexibility and performance, stimulating and balancing muscles and muscle groups therefore reducing possible injury in training and competition, increasing blood flow which takes oxygen to muscles and nutrients to soft tissues, helping the elimination of metabolic wastes, and shortening recovery time.
If sports massage is your passion, having a solid foundation of all the muscles, their action, insertion and origin is a must. Along with that, the following suggestions will benefit your sports massage business:
• Know the players and stats of the sport in which you want to focus your massage work
• Show interest while talking with the athlete about their sport and their performance. You’ll find it’s a topic they love to share.
• Know the types of injuries athletes of that sport will most often have
• Have a good foundation in Muscle Energy Techniques such as Proprioceptor Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF)
• Watch for any tensing up and or facial expression while working on the athlete
• Maintain communication with the athlete while working on him or her to adjust and gage your work
• Follow the P.R.I.C.E. rule
These suggestions and more can be found at www.massagenerd.com
Just as pre event massage prepares the athlete and post event massage relaxes the athlete, both important to your work, maintenance will be a vital.
If you are the sports massage therapist for a team, you will be working under the direction of an athletic coach so it will be important for you to maintain an open and clear line of communication with that person. The shared goals you both will have will include recovery after an event, maintenance and preparation for a coming event. You will address tension patterns and areas of pain and soreness on each athlete in your work so keeping thorough S.O.A.P. notes will be valuable to you and the coach.
Whether working with an athletic coach or an individual athlete you will want to employ swedish massage, deep tissue, PNF, trigger point as well as other modalities that work on the muscular and structural systems of the body. You will also want to make sure each athlete is aware of potential problem areas and work with them to safe guard those areas with specific treatments and homework. Again S.O.A.P. notes will be in invaluable resource for you as you work on each athlete.
Challenge: For your assignment this week write a 30 second speech on how you would get an athlete to let you massage them.
I would explain the benefit of sports massage and how it can help an athlete feel better both before and after any event. A properly performed sports massage can help to prevent injury, whether it’s from muscular pain or performance-related stress. My background includes having a deep academic and practical background of athletic injury and performance knowledge. It’s important to know about injury patterns and about how the body responds to exercise and injury so that I can determine which techniques are appropriate. Anybody who participates in any activity can benefit from sports massage whether you lift weights, run marathons, or ride bicycles it can greatly help. If you have muscle pain or tightness, you should consider trying a sports massage.
Hello! My name is Anna Platt, and I am a massage therapist. Massage can be very helpful to you as an athlete. It reduces the chance of injury and boosts your performance. Would you be interested in receiving a massage today?
Hello. My name is Krystal. I saw you run just a little bit ago, and it looked like you were really tired. Do you have someone who massages you before and after an event to help you get ready for an event and relaxed afterwards? No? Well I would like to give you a demonstration before your next event. And if you like it, I would like to work for you to help keep you in your top fitness of health.
Hello, my name is Mark Velet and I’ll be your massage therapist before. Have you warmed up yet? (yes or no ) client says: (Yes) Great! Do you have any medical or injuries I should know of? (no) Great. I will have you face up on the table and I want you to tell me if my pressure is to much or to little so I can adjust. The benefit of sports massage is that it stimulates blood flow and warms up the tissue and ligaments in your bones that way you can move easier and less likely to have an injury. Are you ready? ( yes ) great lets start.
Hello, my name is Latasha and I am a massage therapist.Do you currently have someone who gives you a massage before and after your events?No,massage before your event will help you get to your top performance level. It will warm up your muscles and basically help you get that second wind feeling before you even start your event and after you cool down when your event is done it can help you not be as sore by flushing out metabolic waste and get you ready to practice the next day. If you like, I would like to give you a free massage before and after your next event. Is that somethiing you would be interested in?
Hi, how are you? My name is Shelly Cowley. I am a massage therapist. Do you play tennis all the time? (or other)
You play really well. Do you have a sports massage before and after you play?
Have you ever thought about it? Before you play tennis you have a massage that will help loosen your muscles and invigorate you, it will help you play a better game. After you play, the massage will relax your muscles and cause less soreness. Both help in reducing injury. Would you be interested in a free sports massage?
Hi, My name is Melanie French. How are you doing today? Great! Well I just got done watching you perform and I am actually a massage therapist and i believe i can help you reach your top performance. Have you ever recieved a pre-event sports massage before? Well what I would like to do is show you what i can offer you as a massage therapist your next event. I think it will be very benificial for you as an athlete. Here is my card and if you interested you can contact me and we will talk more about it. Thank you for your time.
Hello my name is Brionna Custard I am a license Massage Therapist. I am also a big fan of the Thunder. If you are interested I would love to show you some techniques that will be very helpful to your and your body
Before this week I didn’t know so much technigue, knowledge and engery went into sports massage. You can easly hurt an atlethe if you don’t know about pre-vent and post-event massage. Pre-event is what you do before an event it gets their muscles warmed up and the post-event massage relaxes the muscles before this week I did not know this.
Hello, my name is Chris Sasser. I am a Licensed Massage Therapist. Have you warmed up for your event yet? YES well great!Do you have any medical or injury i should know about? NO ok well that s great.I will have you face up on table please let me know if pressure is to much or not enough. The reason for doing this pre-event massage is to help get the blood flowing and it helps lessen the if one happens injury. LETS GET STARTED!
Hi Derek (MLB player)
I can see you are feeling some pain after this game. I can show you some techniques that will help you with those sore muscles. As a massage therapist, I am sure you will benefit from some exercises that you can do, in order to prevent that pain you are feeling now. Do you have 10 minutes?
Hi my name is Jennifer Matheson, I am a massage therapist. I was watching you play and was really impressed! Have you ever thought about increasing your performance by recieving sports massage before and after your events? It warms up your muscles and joints so they are ready to go for your event. You can get in the groove of your sport faster and be better because of it. Post event massage reduces soreness and helps you recover faster! I can give you a free session at your next event. Here’s my card, please contact me if your interested. Thank you!
Hello, I’m a massage therapist and I noticed you were limping as you came off of the track! I was wondering if you have a personal massage therapist and if you don’t I would be happy to assist you. Do you have an idea about what preventive care massage can do for you it can also help you with your stats and the way you perform? come to my spa for a proper assessment Thank you for your time here is my card, hope to hear from you soon.
Hello my name is Nicole Kirkpatrick. I am a massage therapist. I specialize in Sports Massage. If you are interested in receiving pregame treatments to assist you in preventing injury during the game. As well as assisting you in achieving optimal performance. I am available for those services. Also I offer post game massage treatments to allow your body to quickly rest and recover to its previous state. Here is my business card if you would be interested in obtaining any of these therapeutic services. Thankyou
Hi my name is Christinae. I am a sports massage therapist. Have you ever considered massage as a part of your warm up and cool down routine? (If client says no, then explain benefits). Massage before and after your event can greatly reduce the risk of injuries, and keep muscles and surrounding tissues healthy. This can benefit you as you go through your career, especially if your career is to be long-term. Can I go ahead and do a few techniques on you before you warm up for your event? (Perform techniques while explaining what I am doing). Here is my card, feel free to call and set up an appointment so we can talk more. Thanks for your time, have a great day.
i would introduce myself, give a good hand shake and explain the benefits of sports massage in relation to the event they were participating in. give them some literature and a business card
Hello, I’m Melinda and I’m a massage therapist. I understand that you have never had a massage before or after your event. Do you mind if I tell you some of the benefits of massage for you? Good! The benefit to having a massage before your event is that it would help warm up the muscle and increases the blood flow to the muscle giving it better oxygen while using it. Once your done, it is also a good idea to massage to help decrease the soreness and reduces your recovery time. So, having said this would you like getting a massage?