11th December 2017
For those well-prepared individuals, not adverse to dealing with a bit of risk, already planning for next year’s ski trip, there’s one more thing to add to your ‘to-do’ list. Here, elite alpine skier, Georgia Hallett, talks about the benefits of TPM Active and why it’s a must-do before heading to the slopes.
First, let’s find out about Georgia’s skiing achievements:
RESULTS:
· British series combined female champion 2015, 2016
· British series indoor snow champion 2015, 2016
· British series dry slope champion 2015
· British University Dryslope ski champion 2014, 2016
Country honours:
Current member of Wales Elite Artificial and Alpine ski team
Downhill can be an uphill battle without Movement Health
Clearly, Georgia is a talented athlete, however, skiing success has not been without issues along the way. Georgia explains,’ …at the start of my 2015/16 season I encountered many problems with my lower back. These issues had been long standing resulting of incorrect lifting technique, over-training and skiing posture. This was aggravated further by an incident whilst training in the gym at the start of that season. ‘
TPM Testing & Retraining: elite movement management
As part of the Talented Athlete Sponsorship Scheme (TASS), Georgia was introduced to University of Manchester physio, Jamie Miller, trained in the assessment, analysis and retraining methods of TPM Active. ‘I saw Jamie (University of Manchester Physio) through the sports scholarship I had recently been awarded at my University, initially as part of the ‘screening’ process. Jamie used ‘The Foundation Matrix (TPM)’, which highlighted movement control issues at my lower back. This made me aware of how these issues linked to the back pain and decrease in performance levels that I had been experiencing and which had become a part of my everyday life. After the testing, I was given a set of very specific exercises of varying difficulty which were aimed at helping me control movement at my lower back, in the specific directions that were flagged up. Initially I could only manage the static exercises however, with daily practice, I was able to advance to the more difficult ones and in combination with other physio treatments, I could feel my back getting stronger, which enabled me to train for longer periods of time and compete without concern.’
Turning risk to assets
I have now been ‘screened’ using the software 3 times and in my last screening that took place at the end of my most successful skiing season, my lower back which was once a ‘red risk’ was now a ‘green asset’ and I feel that this area is a lot more controlled and resistant to injury than it was prior to seeing Jamie. I would highly recommend TPM for any athlete, as I found it really helpful to be able to see a visual representation of my movement progression which motivated me to keep doing the daily exercises, something I had previously struggled with. The software also makes it easy to remember the exercises by producing a personalised structure and providing video demonstrations on each one.
Back on the slope rather than worrying about her low back, Georgia has clear goals in mind;
‘My plans for this season are to increase my training schedule culminating with the National Championships at the end of the summer in which I aim to win at least one of the National titles in addition to becoming the best ranked female skier in the UK. Finally, I want to become best ranked artificial skier in Britain by end of 2017 season’
TPM Active movement assessment and retraining is available for skiers and all active individuals across the world