Prevention of injury and the golden rules of staying safe
There are two primary methods of preventing injury in sporting performances:
- follow all rules and apply them fairly
- use protective equipment and clothing at all times and ensure that all protection is in good working condition
A cricketer must follow all rules to ensure that injury is avoided. For example, a bowler must ensure that the ball bounces on the pitch or passes the batsperson below waist height. The bowler must also bowl from behind the crease so that the batsperson has enough time to respond to the ball and only a limited number of bowls each over may be delivered over shoulder height. These rules help to keep the batsperson safe.
Protective clothing is also very important in cricket. A batsperson typically wears a helmet, pads and gloves in case a fast-moving ball strikes them. Likewise, some fielders such as the wicket keeper might wear a helmet and pads for the legs.
These methods keep the performers safe but accidents still happen. Sometimes the ball will hit the player in an unprotected area or a player will unintentionally break a rule, causing harm to themself or an opponent. As a result, protective equipment must be continually refined and improved and rules and regulations must be changed wherever necessary to protect the performers without fundamentally changing the experience of playing the game. An example of this in cricket is ensuring that helmets prevent the ball from hitting any part of the head and neck without becoming too heavy or inconvenient to wear while batting or fielding.
The following points can be considered to be golden rules of staying safe in sport:
- always warm up before participation and always cool down afterwards
- avoid overtraining by applying the principle of tedium
- always wear the appropriate clothing and footwear for the specific activity
- tape or brace parts of the body susceptible to injury
- complete stretches as part of your warm up but do not over-stretch
- employ the correct technique at all times, such as using the correct technique when lifting a weight
- take plenty of rest between high intensity sessions