Dynamic warm-up gets your body touch-fit
As the touch rugby season kicks off, keep up your dynamic warm-ups so that you perform at your best, and stay injury-free all season.
After completing his rehabilitation from hip surgery, Auckland plumber Brad Glass can't wait to lace up his boots and get back on the touch field.
The 37-year-old from Auckland's North Shore, who had played touch for 16 years, has been out of action the last two seasons with a debilitating hip injury.
During his peak, Brad was playing five nights a week before he started having acute pain in his hip, which required resurfacing surgery.
"My hip pain is a hereditary problem, and I was in a lot of pain because the ball and socket joint of my hip was so worn from all the touch I was playing," he says.
"I've had my fair share of injuries from touch, ankle and knee injuries, and my file at ACC must be pretty big. But I've always wanted to get back and I'm looking forward to playing again this summer."
Brad, a father of two young kids, started playing touch more seriously after his premier club rugby days because he thought he was less likely to get injured. He loves everything about the game.
"It's an awesome escape – you get in good exercise and have a nice break from a busy life. It's the highlight of my week."
Brad is not alone. This week around 150,000 people began their touch seasons around New Zealand. There are 19 active provincial associations and over 230 affiliated modules across the country.
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The cost of touch injuries
Isaac Carlson, the Head of Injury Prevention at ACC, says staying injury-free is an integral part of performance and enjoying the game. Often the most successful teams are the ones with the fewest injuries.
"Studies show that doing the TouchFit360 warm-up twice a week will have 37% fewer training injuries and 50% fewer serious injuries during the season," he says.
In the past 10 years, there have been 139,756 ACC claims for touch-related injuries.
In 2019, we had 10,594 new claims from touch-related injuries and spent $14.2m to help people recover. Soft tissue injuries (69%) were the most common.
Isaac says touch is a dynamic game where ankle and knee injuries are common, particularly early in the season.
"You have to look after your body and warm up properly, particularly as you get older," he says.
"Your mind might think you can pull off that big sidestep you could back in your prime, but your body might be saying something pretty different.
"If you follow the dynamic warm-up and take time to rest and recover, you'll be fitter, faster, stronger, and this will reduce your risk of being sidelined with an injury."
Brad agrees, saying it's common to lose a few players early in the season to ankle or knee injuries.
"You might run on the roads to get fit for touch but there's no substitute for playing games at that high pace and it pays to ease into it. You can't expect to go in cold and be all good."
Making a difference with TouchFit360
We're investing $687,000 for the next three years into the TouchFit360 injury prevention programme.
TouchFit360 works on conditioning for in-game movements such as contact, jumping, landing, and changing direction. It prepares touch players' bodies for training and matches and enhances performance. It decreases the risk of injury.
The programme has been working. Between 2015 and 2019, there has been an 18% reduction of annual active costs ($13m down to $11m) and a 20% reduction in claim volume (12k to 9.5k).
Over the next three years, the TouchFit360 programme will aim to:
- reduce the incidence and severity of injury
- strengthen the delivery and extend investment into the CommUNITY Connect projects.
Isaac says touch is a unique sport that includes players of all ages and backgrounds.
"Touch is a sport that can engage with participants across their lifetime," he says.
"We're pleased to continue our investment in touch. The game has a unique ability to positively influence and have a direct impact in the areas of both social and community development."
He says the focus of TouchFit360 is not just on the field. The programme recognises that sport is a powerful enabler of Hauora (physical, mental, social, and spiritual health) and wellbeing and that touch rugby plays an important role in the community.
Joe Sprangers, the Chief Executive of Touch NZ, says for many people, touch is their summer game.
"We were pleased to go past 150,000 touch players last season and we're hoping to build on that this season.
"This investment from ACC helps us to continue to build on injury prevention with TouchFit360.
"We have also adopted social responsibility as a core value and driver for our organisation and we're looking forward to making a difference with this programme."
More information
TouchFit360 has warm-ups and other information on performance and staying injury-free.
