Professional athletes often say they relate better to a coach who played at a high level himself, rather than someone who never saw much action on the court or field.
So does that experience also help when a former athlete becomes the team doctor?
Yes, according to Nigel W. Sparks, M.D., an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery and rehabilitation at the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville.
Sparks is the team physician for the Jacksonville Giants, an American Basketball Association team that began its second season last month. The semi-pro team added a marquee name to their roster this season, signing former Duke University star and NBA player Christian Laettner, a Ponte Vedra Beach resident.
Sparks, who sees patients at the Shands Jacksonville Bone and Joint Institute, knows it from the other side, too. He was a two-time All-American soccer player at Penn State and the Big Ten Player of the Year in 1992.
Born in Canada, Sparks needed to find a way to pay for medical school since foreign students don’t qualify for the same types of grants American citizens do. So he played professional soccer for the Philadelphia Freedom to pay for his medical training at nearby Hahnemann University College of Medicine.
Sparks spoke recently on a range of topics, including how his experience as a high-level athlete helps him courtside as a doctor, the differences between treating an experienced athlete like Laettner compared with younger players carrying NBA dreams and the strangest injury he’s seen on the court:
Do you think your experience as an athlete at that level helps credibility with the players?
Yeah, I think they can sort of relate. And, like any professional, a lot of the injuries they have, I’ve already had. So I understand where they’re coming from and it’s easier to talk to them about an injury once you’ve been through it. We all want to get back and play, but the question is how can we do it safely. Having been there and dealt with injuries and played at that level, I think it makes it easier for me to talk to them and help them see what they have to go through.
What are the differences between an experienced NBA player like Laettner and a younger athlete?
The biggest difference is how well they know their body. The younger athletes are just sort of learning muscle control and what they can and can’t do. But when you get top someone who’s as experienced as Christian Laettner, he truly understands what his limits are. He knows what his body can and can’t do, so from the standpoint of treating a professional athlete, it’s actually easier. The younger athlete, you really sort of have to delve into it to find out what’s going on, where someone like Christian Laettner will just come to you and tell you what it is.
Do you notice that more experienced athletes take better care of themselves?
The higher caliber you are, the harder you are going to train. In terms of staying fit throughout the year and maintaining a level of fitness, I would say yes. But from the standpoint of really running the body down, I would say no because they’re training more.
What are some of the most common mistakes that amateur athletes make?
Stretching. They don’t stretch enough. A lot of the injuries athletes get tend to be overuse injuries, so a lot of it tends to be tendinitis or sprains or strains. The majority of those can be prevented just by stretching and staying flexible. The issue becomes as a muscle fatigues, the tendon for that muscle shortens. And as the muscle fatigues, if you don’t have that stretch, that’s what causes the tear. So the more flexible you are, the greater you can stretch that muscle, the less chance there is of that muscle tearing.
What are some exercises that weekend warriors can do to stay healthy?
It really depends on the sport. If you’re playing a sport that involves throwing or an upper body sport, then without a doubt it’s making sure you focus on stretching the shoulders, keeping your core strength for the shoulders. If you’re talking a more lower-body sport, whether it’s cycling or soccer, you’re really talking about just stretching the hamstrings and your Achilles, because those are the two most prominent injuries for lower body sports. So it’s really focusing on the body part or joint you use the most and making sure that body part is flexible. People think if they are just going to the gym to lift weights, they don’t need to stretch, but it can only help prevent those tears and strains.
Do you see athletes now who do yoga as part of their training regimen now?
Not necessarily yoga, but here is a perfect example. If you look at the fitness tapes from 15 years ago compared to what you see now, the P90X or the Insanity tapes, the first 20, 30 minutes is all about stretching. It wasn’t that way 15 years ago. The core exercises, they warm you up and stretch you out because they understand how important the stretching part is.
What’s a typical game night like for you at a Giants game?
My son likes to go, so we get there right before they start to warm up. We go into the locker room and John the trainer is usually taping people up. He’ll let me know what’s going on with certain injuries, so if a guy has an injury he needs me to look at, we’ll take a look before the game. The majority of stuff that I see pregame is guys that may have sort of a strain that we’re following up on and making sure they’re cleared to play that night.
During the game we sit behind the bench and if anyone has an injury, we’ll see them right there. The extent of the injury will determine whether we take them back to the locker room or whether we have them sit. The goal of the on-court management is really to make sure that the guys, even if they have an injury, are save to go back in the game and play. It’s basically to keep them playing without causing further injury. The major stuff, we’ll keep them out and evaluate them the next day at the office.
What’s the strangest injury you’ve seen during a game?
Last year, I had a guy from the Orlando team who broke his cheekbone during the game. He got hit in the nose, but it ended up breaking his cheek bone. He was obviously bleeding from his nose at the time, but he had pain in his cheek. He went back to Orlando and saw an ear, nose a throat doctor who told him he broke his cheekbone. He ended up having to wear a face mask the rest of the year. A lot of times when you see a guy wearing a face mask, it’s usually it’s a broken bone in their cheek or face somewhere. Those tend to be hard to manage because people don’t want to wear the face mask for basketball.
So when you’re there for the Giants, are you the doctor for both teams?
Yes. Usually teams don’t travel with a doctor. We go to a few if they are close, but most of the road games the team will use the home team doctors – if they have them. A lot of the teams in the ABA probably don’t even have trainers. We kind of have a unique situation here; we have a trainer and a doctor with them full time.