High impact sports - how badly do you pay the price?

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Originally Posted by newguy888

Straight line activities are never a problem with knees as we age. I see so many men give up and make excuses.

If you think hockey and football are "straight line activities", you've never played or watched either sport.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i haven't played with a shuttlecock (oh shut up) since summer camp. that was actually a very good game.

took up mountain biking in my 40s but we don't have mountains in florida so i rode single track. i was too butch for padding: big mistake. two endovers later, i now dress like darth vader before hitting a technical trail. the first endover threw me about 15 feet. on landing it felt like an electric shock ran through my body. i must have shaken something loose in my left knee which creates some huge pain but only now and then when it shifts into a sensitive spot i guess. it has been painfree for about a year now. the second endover sent me down a pretty big hill with the bike landing ontop me, but the only thing damaged there was my pride.

now i mostly ride the mountain bike on easy, double, hardpacked trails along with some urban assaults and i have a roadbike for speeding along our beach roads. also i do a lot of swimming, all low impact for a long, healthy and painfree life.

i also have two discs blown from a construction accident years ago so i don't even take a chance with horsebackriding which i totally love and got to enjoy from when i was a little kid until about 30. though i did walk my nieces horse after she got her all sweaty a few weeks ago. felt great to be on a horse again. i would love to ride hard but it just isn't worth it.

[firedude]

I played football and ran track in high school and college. I continued to play "touch" football, basketball, softball and track through my 20's and early 30's. Now I just run (jog) and lift weights to stay in shape. My knees are bad but like newguy states, "straight line" running is still relatively pain free. I can't cut or move laterally very well at all. I had back problems late last year and the physician viewing the xray stated I must have suffered some traumatic injury that damaged portions of my spine. The only thing I could think of was all the hits I took in football. My back is fine now but I'm told I can look forward to arthritis like pain in the future.

[Jarhead*]

Originally Posted by Orchidflower

High impact sports and how badly do you pay the price? Answer this: how many people that played high impact sports do you know that lived to 100? Not many, I suspect.
I've been thinking of this lately and have mentioned it to a neighbor that rough sports figures seem to die very young--while classical musicians and intellectuals seem to live a long, long time often. Case closed.

Orchidflower:

Hope i'm allowed to comment after you considered the case closed.

(longevity wasn't a question the the Op was asking).

I think Nords pretty well covered his question that OP was asking.

For me personally, I was raised in a rural area, (one of 8 children) with a logger father and a stay at home mother. 4 boys and 4 girls. (Try telling the boys that the decision to play impact sports would affect you later in life, if the ticket out is available.

I was the first to leave, being the oldest, and enlisted in the Marine Corps.

After Korea, and re-hab for being wounded, played football for the Camp Pendleton Marines. After being released from active duty, I signed a pro-contract. My younger 2 brothers won scholorships to Div. i schools. They played 4 years and 5 years in the NFL after college. Both of their careers ended after those years due to injuries. (I was out also for the same reason after 4 years).

Orchid Flower: The only reason I responded to your post was the last two words you ended with. "Case closed". Being classical musicians, or intellectuals, while you may be right, aren't avaliable to all.

In fact, it brings to mind Ha's remark, that one of the favorite pastimes of this board is to sit in judgement of the way others lead their lives.

That being said, my brothers and I have definantly paid some heavy dues.

So, Nords advice to original OP to find something else to do is good.

[CheapCanuck]

Wow, lots of cautionary tales. I think I'm going to drop the football now, and try and wean myself off the ball hockey over the next few years, and replace them with lower impact sports. I'm only 155 lbs with good muscle strength, so my own body isn't putting a great deal of stress on itself, but the bodies of my much larger opponents are exerting a lot of stress on mine in the aforementioned sports

[FinanceDude]

Well, I am now paying the piper for high jumping in high school and college all those years. I've been stretching forever, but I am sure I did some permanent damage in my neck.

But heck, it was fun to high jump..........

[FinanceDude]

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny

If you think hockey and football are "straight line activities", you've never played or watched either sport.

More like "removing the line" sports........

[FinanceDude]

Originally Posted by Orchidflower

High impact sports and how badly do you pay the price? Answer this: how many people that played high impact sports do you know that lived to 100? Not many, I suspect.
I've been thinking of this lately and have mentioned it to a neighbor that rough sports figures seem to die very young--while classical musicians and intellectuals seem to live a long, long time often. Case closed.

What about tennis??

[Fireup2025]

Hmmm, continuing to play volleyball, softball, downhill ski, mountain bike....but the WORST one is the 3 miles the Navy makes me RUN in 1.5 mile increments every 6 months! Running for the sake of running? bleah!

As long as the pleasure exceeds the pain, I will continue, although due to various injuries (knees & shoulder - and stitches here and there) I am not as hot on a field, court, trail, or slope as I once was, and only a mere 37 years old

[TargaDave]

Just because something is low impact doesn't mean it doesn't lead to injury. Competitive rowers often end up with low back problems even though there is virtually no impact involved, just huge loads on the lower back. I'm sure there are lots of other similar examples for both sports and other activities.

I shifted from terra-firma sports in my teens to water sports in my 20's. Lower back is still my weak link now at 49. Water is a heck of lot more forgiving than dirt but I smacked it so hard this last fall I separated some ribs. I now wear an impact vest during my favorite water activity.

[Nords]

Originally Posted by CheapCanuck

Wow, lots of cautionary tales. I think I'm going to drop the football now, and try and wean myself off the ball hockey over the next few years, and replace them with lower impact sports. I'm only 155 lbs with good muscle strength, so my own body isn't putting a great deal of stress on itself, but the bodies of my much larger opponents are exerting a lot of stress on mine in the aforementioned sports

If you insist on a contact sport, you can get similar-size matches from martial arts like taekwondo. Tournaments are run by belt level, weight, and age (in about that order) so you're not going to be at a significant disadvantage. Other alternatives are karate, judo, and aikido/hapkido.

[deserat]

Hmm - my husband and I play badminton and most of the players are pretty old - it migrates from a games of agressiveness to skill and cunning - still need to get around the court and the twisting takes its toll. I love watching some old geezer make some young 'fart' run around the court and lose. Skiing - don't have to be gun ho about it - can do cruisers and still enjoy yourself - now, unfortunately, I have this mindset of 'must be challenged' and do some real steep every now and then -husband gets mad at me and leaves for other runs :-) That's OK - it's the only sport I can beat him in :-) Knees have started hurting along with back - that's what prophylactic aspirin is for - otherwise all is fine. I think it comes down to how hard you play - moderation being the key.

[HFWR]

Well, lessee, one broken finger, one mashed finger, nose broken, lip busted, rotator cuff shot, lower back pain, both knees gimpy...

No more contact sports for me (with one exception...), but I still enjoy bicycling, walking, and working out on my $45 Craigslist universal machine...

I can tell you one thing, though. When it's cold, that mashed finger gets S-E-N-S-I-T-I-V-E...

It IS gonna hurt in the morning...

[unclemick]

Well - so now using both sets of fingers(to minimize joint strain) to open shelled peanuts while watching football(or other sport on tv) is probably prudent for an older ER such as myself - eh!

heh heh heh - keep your kayak out of the white water and only converse with the slower chicks when you are 'Mall Walking'.

I still don't have the nerve to try the Senior Center gym and the Peppermint candy routine.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Originally Posted by HFWR

Well, lessee, one broken finger, one mashed finger, nose broken, lip busted, rotator cuff shot, lower back pain, both knees gimpy...

And thats just from the hookers!

I have two busted fingers, a broken thumb and split the bone in my hand that the ring finger is attached to. Man, I hate cold damp days.

[CheapCanuck]

I hear you. I suffered a spiral fracture of my left index finger a couple years ago. the bone shifted again early in the healing process, and as a result it healed crookedly. The knuckle is always swollen, but the cold weather makes it ache pretty fiercely...

[newguy88]

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny

If you think hockey and football are "straight line activities", you've never played or watched either sport.

Still skate, use a brace. Acl is still hanging together. Do many exercises to keep muscles around the knee strong and flexible.

[Rich_in_Tampa]

Originally Posted by steve88

I use the clapper. Thank god for that invention!

Careful - you can get tendonitis of the hand. And isn't that how you get the clap?

[Rich_in_Tampa]

Originally Posted by Jarhead*

In fact, it brings to mind Ha's remark, that one of the favorite pastimes of this board is to sit in judgement of the way others lead their lives.

Seems to be a lot of that going around... .

Sports and fighting among testosterone-drenched young males will always be with us -- better the former than the latter.

I boxed until it hurt too much (PAL in high school), played raquetball until a nearby wall dislocated my clavicle, and loved every minute of both (except for the injuries). I think I escaped with no permanent damage, except maybe a few IQ points from the boxing.

Happy now to plug in to a podcast and jog 5 miles a few times a week.