Understanding Sports Massage offers comprehensive information on how to use massage in any sports setting. Massage can enhance athletes' conditioning and performance, reduce injury potential, and aid rehabilitation after an injury.

  This book focuses on the following topics:
• Theoretical basis for sports massage
• Various applications of massage for athletes-restorative, event-related, and maintenance
• Massage and adjunct techniques
• The effects of each technique
• Tips on giving massage
• How to set up a sports massage program
• Contraindications and cautions

Featuring more than 60 illustrations of sports massage techniques, the book readers through the finer points of planning and giving a massage, including the following:
•  body mechanics
•  palpation 
•  technique selection 
•  movement qualities such as rhythm and pacing
•  monitoring pain 
•  the massage routine

Readers will learn how to blend basic skills and techniques to develop a smooth, flowing style that produces the desired physiological and psychological effects. The book also outlines how to implement a sports massage program in a variety of settings and discusses the unique requirements of each setting. (136 pages)

Understanding Sports Massage will help readers ensure the health and enhance the performance of their athletes.