Spandrel Analytics

Cost, analysis, and new perspectives on injuries and absences. https://www.spandrelanalytics.com/post/non-productive-expenditure-ousmane-dembele Since Ousmane Dembele joined the Barcelona FC squad, he has suffered at least 9 injuries. In the last 4 years, he has been inactive 39% of the time: 514 days absent due to injuries (1.41 years) and 63 days due to suspensions and/or commitments outside the club (0.17 years). In total it represents 88.52 million/Euros in non-productive spending for the club. Considering only 2019, Dembele has been absent 49% of the days, representing 27.46 million/Euros spent in non-productive time.

To understand the current calf injury that Mr. Kevin Durant suffered few days ago, we should start reviewing his injury history. In 2015 he had surgery 3 times thanks to an initial Jones fracture. What is that? Simply put a fracture of the 5 th metatarsal, in his case it was most probably due to an overload of the area caused by inadequate mechanics. The pictures below show that since early on in his career, there has been a pattern of movement that precisely loads the damaged foot’s region. To simply understand how this happens, imagine that his foot is prepared to deal with his 240 pounds every time that he lands, changes direction, pushes off, etc. If the load is distributed across a smaller or inadequate anatomical area than the particular technique requires the structure can give up and get injured. Why? Because when a bone area is loaded beyond its capacity, it can decrease the quality of the bone and as a consequence the “mate...

We observe again the consequence of Mr. Curry’s biomechanics efficiency, the same source of all his ankle injuries in my opinion. We discussed his technique of running in several posts ( DK Blogger1) This time Mr. Curry was lucky in not injuring himself, however he had a dangerous fall. If you observe the pictures (below) you will see that his running and turning technique is the same than when he was in college (DK Blogger) He is turning while his inside leg is in an unstable position: knee outside of the supporting foot. That action twists his foot inwards and therefore looses almost total contact with the ground (the only contact is the outside-foot edge) putting the center of gravity way outside of the sustentation base that in this moment is just a "foot line." The inevitable outcome is a fall! This is the result of a history of incomplete training design. Curry’s “injury issues” where always inte...

As I predicted in 2011, Mr. Lincecum's lower back injury was just matter of time. http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasybaseball/update/24763989/giants-pitcher-tim-lincecum-leaves-due-to-injury . Using a simple mechanical analysis of online pictures and videos, I was able to accurately predict the negative outcome of his methods   http://danielkamenetzky.blogspot.com/2011/05/tim-lincecum-risk-of-injuries.html , but what I find most baffling is that his present injury comes as such a surprise to the athletic community: We now have the information and tools necessary to identify risk of damage long before the load starts to erode the structure, and to understand the role movement plays in stress ing the biological structures. Because we can now predict both positive and negative outcome s, how is possible that a professional player at the level of Mr. Lincecum does not engage in a constant process of evaluation, analysis and follow up? An institution l...

Sprinting, high intensity running, weight lifting and fast "everything" is the main focus of the training strategy of most soccer coaches. “ Training endurance slows you down!” insist coaches. Why then do we see such a high percentage of the soccer injuries happening during a sprinting and/or high intensity events? The pictures of Altidore in 2011 look identical to those taken during the June 16, 2014 game against Ghana! The same injury, in the same place, during a similar situation, at almost the same moment in the game. Is this a coincidence? Is it the result of a bad process of rehabilitation process? Or, most probable in my opinion, a combination of the former with a poor running mechanics associated to a non-specific soccer training design.                                     ...

The analysis of some aspects of the technique can help to explain the athlete’s performance, injuries and his/her future possibilities. With the information that I present in this blog I’m not intended to replace a scientifically organized evaluation process, but just to play with the available information. Mr. Gordon presents history of injuries in his right lower body including the tight an hip (that ended in a labrum surgery in 2009). Is reported also some days of DL for low back stiffness and soreness. Also his right shoulder seems to present recurrent problems. His running technique shows hyper extension of the knees before landing with the heels in front of the body. This technique creates stopping forces and stress at the knee and hip levels. Knee hyper extension. Landing in front of the body with heel Knee hyper extension. Landing in front of the body with heel Almost complete extension of the knee during push off Knee hyper extension. Landing in fro...