Day 1: Thursday, May 16
McCormick Place Convention Center, Room W183 (First Floor)
7:30 AM
Breakfast Available
8:30 AM
Welcome Remarks
8:35 AM
Bone Stress Injury in Elite Basketball: Biological Underpinnings, Risk Factors, and a Type Specific Approach to Rehabilitation
Scott Epsley
Description
This presentation will review the biology of bone stress injury and healing in contrast to frank fracture. Periosteal, cortical and cancellous locations, and their relevance to traction, bending, and axial loading will be explained. Common “high risk” fractures seen in the NBA will be discussed, including the 5th metatarsal, navicular, and anterior tibial cortex. Morphological and biochemical factors such as bone shape, the role of vitamin D, and race specific factors will be explored. Finally, a framework for rehabilitation will be outlined based on injury location.
9:05 AM
Tendon Health: Diagnostic Imaging Tools and Techniques
Jarrod Antflick, Jill Cook, Scott Epsley, Ogonna Kenechi Nwawka, Jesse Wright—moderated by Wiemi Douoguih
Description
While health and performance professionals in professional sport are accustomed to treating tendinopathies, these common injuries that affect basketball players of all ages can still be challenging to classify. Among the most challenging aspects of the injury is the difficulty of truly analyzing or quantifying tendon health in elite athlete populations. This panel will discuss different approaches for assessing tendon health using diagnostic imaging and other evaluative techniques and tools.
9:50 AM
Changing Pace for Injury Mitigation: Importance of Deceleration Training
Damian Harper
Description
In basketball, rapid decelerations are highly frequent and integral to performance and injury-mitigation. In this presentation, Dr. Harper will discuss and illustrate the unique physiological and biomechanical demands of braking when decelerating rapidly. He will present some of the latest advancements in the assessment of deceleration and how these have helped to better understand some of the underpinning technical and physical qualities required to perform intense decelerations in order to better prepare players for the demands of competition.
10:20 AM
Understanding Pain Mechanisms: Physical, Psychological, and Sociocultural Considerations
Fred Azar, Luke Bongiorno, Kensa Gunter, Matt Tuttle—moderated by Brian Hainline
Description
Increased understanding about pain among players, coaches, front office personnel, and others within an elite sport environment can enhance care. Equally important is the ability to distill complex science into comprehensible and clinically meaningful information for the athlete and health and performance staff to reduce injury burden and optimize performance. This panel will provide a review of the physiology and psychology of pain, the contextual factors that impact the pain experience, and the skills to enable healthcare professionals to better understand, communicate with, and provide higher quality care to the injured athlete with enhanced communication and understanding.
10:55 AM
Intermission Address and Break
11:00 AM-2:00 PM
Intermission
2:00 PM
Shared Practices on Effective Communication in Addressing Health and Performance Matters
BJ Armstrong, Trajan Langdon, Todd Wright,—moderated by Travis Maak
Description
Effective communication is critically important in implementing and maintaining a world-class health and performance environment. Health and performance personnel are often tasked with managing second opinion evaluations, players’ personal health and wellness teams, ever-expanding staffs and specializations, and a host of other responsibilities that require effective and timely communication. This panel will discuss challenges in, and best practices for, cross-organizational communication, including health and performance staffs, athletes, coaches, agents, and front office personnel.
2:35 PM
Injury Prediction in Sports: Fact or Fiction?
Alan McCall
Description
This presentation will overview the main conceptual frameworks for injury prognostic research and explain the distinction between description, association, and prediction from a research perspective, and also how this can be applied in the practical setting of professional sports. Insights will be provided for artificial intelligence systems that claim to be able to predict when a player will be injured, and the limitations associated with these from a scientific and practical perspective.
3:05 PM
‘Through the Stigma’: Addressing mental health and hesitation around utilization of services with individuals and different cultural groups
Chelsi Day, Will Hardy, Daphne Scott—moderated by Kensa Gunter
Description
This panel will consider methods to increase access to mental health related services and resources for individuals who may be cautious to engage due to certain societal or cultural stigmas associated with mental health. The panelists will discuss how to address resistance and encourage utilization of mental health and performance resources among players and other team personnel. The panel will also identify some common cultural considerations for all stakeholders to be aware of.
3:40 PM
Closing Remarks
NBSCA Vendor Show, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM, Convention Center W185