Back/Side injury from forehand - Common or unlucky?

[thegr812k]

Sorry if this is the wrong location, i have recently joined a team and i am 3 months in and have been progressing well.

UNTIL last night, i felt a twinge in my left back/side in my first game but nothing major so carried on and then later in the night i played a forehand and BAM i felt like i had been shot, i was on the floor in agony.

As i type this i am in lots of pain, i cant twist or bend or move really at all, the pain feels really deep and i cant pin point it, but goes from front to back just under the ribs on my left side (im right handed)

Has anyone else suffered a similar injury? is this common in TT? i fear now i have done this once it will re-occur , i also wonder what i was doing wrong in my technique?

My concern is when recovered i will repeat the same mistake

Annoying as i gave up football due to age/injuries (im 39) and this is a great new hobby i am enjoying and this has happened

Very depressed right now lol

 

[Amayzde]

Back issues are common in every sport. But you should discuss that with a physical therapist.

 

[edcognito]

You need to go see a doctor and get medical advice, not forum advice.

 

[turbozed]

Obviously you want to go see a physiotherapist for what sounds like a serious issue.

But if you want to know if there's something wrong with your technique, you'll have to post a video of you playing.

 

[thegr812k]

Well 2 days on and i can move better, the purpose of my message was not really for a medical diagnosis, it was more to see if anyone else had expereinces similar injuries?

Is this a common injury in TT? my teammate said he had never seen someone do it before...

 

[NextLevel]

Well 2 days on and i can move better, the purpose of my message was not really for a medical diagnosis, it was more to see if anyone else had expereinces similar injuries?

Is this a common injury in TT? my teammate said he had never seen someone do it before...

Back issues are common for people without the right muscles to support their technique. Especially if and when you herniate a disc in your spin. It is worse and more common in older players, but young people can have the problems too especially if they overuse the core and back without using the legs. I know kids who have been forced out of the sport with back issues, one of them was a promising talent who had to give up the sport entirely. And I believe the Founder also had back issues at some point that led him to stop playing for a while as well.

I saw an interesting video yesterday that argued that back issues can be alleviated somewhat if you put as much care and time into developing the muscles of the back (upper and lower) as you do other body parts and do it over a period of time, often a year or two. I have personally herniated a few disc's (partly related to autoimmune arthritis) and with rest and therapy, I still play actively. But it is very important to both rest and look for exercises to address the strength problems ans imbalances your technique can create. Bending the spine to get power is a dangerous act.

 

[Attitude]

I saw an interesting video yesterday that argued that back issues can be alleviated somewhat if you put as much care and time into developing the muscles of the back (upper and lower) as you do other body parts and do it over a period of time, often a year or two. I have personally herniated a few disc's (partly related to autoimmune arthritis) and with rest and therapy, I still play actively. But it is very important to both rest and look for exercises to address the strength problems ans imbalances your technique can create. Bending the spine to get power is a dangerous act.

As someone with a fitnessjourney of almost 10 years now, i can second this.

If you check the back muscles of the pros, then you will see that they are usually quite developed.

But currently i cant see your issue being prevented here, because your description sound too far out to the side and almost like it is an internal issue, which i repeat what the others told you: see a doctor.

Aside from that, strengthening the muscles around your spine helps a lot to prevent injuries in tabletennis.

 

[Pe-ter]

As someone who has enough experience with back issues, this seems to me like something I'm facing on a "regular" basis. Stuck nerve. Lots of pain with limited movements, going from the back all the way to the front of the body, sometimes even with feeling pain during breathing.

 

[blahness]

a lot of it is due to technique. Basically, at any point of the stroke your waist shouldn't be twisting or bending. The movement should come from the hip, knee joints and the feet - the waist (i.e. lower back) is not a real joint and overusing it is likely to lead to lower back injuries (as many TT players have experienced - even a lot of pros have this dangerous technique for e.g. Timo Boll). Even if you're not actively using the waist, during a powerful stroke, if your core doesn't tighten, the lower back will also be flailing around and compressing the liquids in your disks. The tightening in the core (or bracing in the core) is pretty much essential especially if you use powerful strokes.

This is not just about TT, but even in everyday life for e.g. when lifting heavy stuff you need to brace your core and bend from the hips/knees to protect your lower back.

I wrote a lot about this a long time back in the forums.