Frequent pain/injury on non-dominant side

[Salander66]

Doctor. Go see one.

With my coach's help I found the most fencing-educated sports medicine center in the area. I'm going next week to get it checked out.

[ravlik]

If the wrist of your non-weapon hand is aching and in pain, the solution isn't making it your weapon hand.

I also thought that your "absurd" part was about Salander66 case.

a) Fencing off hand is the best way to compensate very specific stress the primary side gets from fencing
a) no.

If I change "the best way " to "the best cheap way" will it work? You do not need think about what exercises to do...You still kind of fencing

b) It is less boring than usual fitness
b) perhaps, but perhaps not. Many athletes report joyful participation in physical fitness activities other than the one they are already spending 30 hours per week practicing. Of course, ymmv.

No no no I am talking about fencing 4 hrs per week and conditioning about the same time

Which reminds me about the anecdote
A hooker is relaxing on the beach. A stranger starts flirting with her. After some time hooker asks about his profession.
- I am a carpenter
- Could you imagine ... you are coming to the beach and only logs, logs logs are around

[Inquartata]

Why should anyone say that? It's usually ignored by the OP, and it's more fun to play "House" online.

Has anyone suggested Lupus yet?

[Salander66]

has anyone suggested lupus yet?

House-Its-not-lupus-Its-never-lupus.jpg

[MyrddinsPrecint]

Have you ever seen a division 3 college tournament, Mr. Epee? I can tell you fairly confidently that the bottom half of those kids wouldn't know cross-training if it jumped up and bit them on the tush. So plyometrics isn't really a hot topic in that circle. As I am hearing now, it's a really important training tool, one of the most important, so I'm looking into pooling funds for a one-day tutorial at school from an experienced trainer so we can all learn a few things. Apologizing for what I don't know is not as helpful as setting out to learn it

I think you're wrong about that. Because they have coaches, athletic directors, trainers, etc. Also, while there can only be so many hours of official practice, and only during certain points of the year, there can be a general unofficial expectation of a certain amount of additional athletic activity. (my school's only competitive program, crew, had/has a club that met in crew's off season to work out together. They used the rowing machines a lot. Not required, but if you weren't keeping up on your own time instead, it was hard to keep up with your peers....

Anyway, you'd be better off getting books/videos about plyometrics from the library or amazon and spend that money asking a fencing coach to drop by to do the fencing stuff. (I learned more about plyo from said sources than from coach type people).

[Salander66]

Anyway, you'd be better off getting books/videos about plyometrics from the library or amazon and spend that money asking a fencing coach to drop by to do the fencing stuff. (I learned more about plyo from said sources than from coach type people).

I agree it would be the best course to get a fencing coach in, but for one thing I think we'll have better success finding a more generic athletic trainer in reasonable proximity than a fencing coach (the school is pretty remote, and fencing coaches are thin on the ground in the area)... That, and I'd be a little scared of introducing something like plyos when I hadn't learned it from a live human being, as I wouldn't necessarily be able to recognize bad form when I saw it to prevent injury... At least with fencing I learned from a person who was there to point out and correct poor form so I wouldn't get hurt, and I can now recognize many of those hazards and help correct them in others. I dunno. Is there an absolutely satisfactory, risk-free answer? Probably not.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

That, and I'd be a little scared of introducing something like plyos when I hadn't learned it from a live human being, as I wouldn't necessarily be able to recognize bad form when I saw it to prevent injury... At least with fencing I learned from a person who was there to point out and correct poor form so I wouldn't get hurt, and I can now recognize many of those hazards and help correct them in others. I dunno. Is there an absolutely satisfactory, risk-free answer? Probably not.

See, here's the thing: In fencing, you are having problems with your off hand yet you decide the right answer is to use it MORE. I'm not sure they should be turning to you for injury prevention.

Also, you reference going to the Big One. The schools that faces the toughest coaching challenge might be.... Colby? Which is 3 hours from Boston. You get an up-and-coming coach, offer to put them up saturday night, and do one or two coaching weekends a year? You'd have to find someone willing, and there are plenty of people who are now halfway decent fencers who once dragged their scrappy club team with them through hell and back. So someone might be willing to listen/work with you.

Your problems aren't particularly new. Some of us solved them in different ways. I can't begin to help you with your injury issues, I'm barely dealing properly with my own.... But I (and a number of other folks) have tried to make a college fencing experience a better experience for everyone, even with minimal resources.

[KD5MDK]

I agree it would be the best course to get a fencing coach in, but for one thing I think we'll have better success finding a more generic athletic trainer in reasonable proximity than a fencing coach (the school is pretty remote, and fencing coaches are thin on the ground in the area)... That, and I'd be a little scared of introducing something like plyos when I hadn't learned it from a live human being, as I wouldn't necessarily be able to recognize bad form when I saw it to prevent injury... At least with fencing I learned from a person who was there to point out and correct poor form so I wouldn't get hurt, and I can now recognize many of those hazards and help correct them in others. I dunno. Is there an absolutely satisfactory, risk-free answer? Probably not.

Where are you, anyway? It is not unlikely we know more about fencing resources in the area than you do. Is New Mexico where you are from, and you're away at school? Or are you going to school there?

[MyrddinsPrecint]

She's at Bennington.

This thread sheds some light-- Fencing clubs in the Bennington, Vt/Albany, NY area?

Mister Crocket can provide Vermont specific advice (and PMed initially), but Bennington is an hour from RPI, which claims not just a head coach, but also an assistant coach on the website. It's two hours away from the 5 colleges, and UMass has a history of being open to helping out where possible (and compensated, or at least not losing money), and several schools have practices or scrimmages every so often on weekends they'd be happy to invite you too if only they knew you were interested in being on the list.

Things may be more difficult for you than for schools in the middle of the Boston area, but you're not in some black hole.

[hippo]

My mother is a doctor, but when I asked her she said I would probably be better off asking experienced fencers, since few non-fencers understand the sport or its common injuries. I'm a little scared to talk to my coach because I worry he'll want me to "take it easy" for a while. Anything you have to say would be enormously appreciated.

In what field is your mother's PHD?