Calf Injury

Question
Hi Nick, I am a South African.  I play nr. 8 and I am also the place kicker for my club.  This injyry started about 3 weeks ago and it gets worse, but very slowly.  It feels like shin splits but at the back of the calf and its at the bottom of the calf, not the bigger top part. It has a major affect on my kicking, but not as much with running with the ball myself, which makes me believe that it's not a serious injury and that it just affects the technical part of kicking.  Any help please to recovering as I do not want to stop playing before the end of the season which is only in October??

Answer
Hi Rudolf.

I ignored the same injury and kept playing. With recovery and then the result of more injuries due to compromised hamstrings caused by the calf injury I ended up loosing over 2 full seasons and a lot of my speed and agility.

Got to a VERY good physio and rest the leg: 3 - 6 weeks at least.

That is my advice from personal experience. Ask the physio and TAKE IT EASY on the calf.

You wreck a calf and you are looking and a lot of down time. I would have rather broken my leg.

Sorry if I sound extreme but I cannot be clear enough; calf injuries end rugby carriers.

Once it heels look to re-construct your running form. Use Google/Yahoo etc to search for "Pose Method Running". If you have a local athletics coach who would be willing to coach you using before during and after video footage do it.

I did a 6 week course on Pose Method Running and all my calf injuries went away. I can run faster for longer and now enjoy running.

So:

1. Stop. Loose the rest of this season to gain the next 2 or 3.
2. Physio
3. Heal
4. Strengthen
5. Flex (get flexibility back)
6. Re-learn how to run: Pose Method.

Good luck.