The Best Sports Massage Method

In this lesson we’re going to learn about what Sports Massage is and the difference between therapeutic and relaxation massage. By knowing this you’ll better be able to educate yourself and clients about the benefits of Sports Massage. This is important because without a good grasp of the theoretical knowledge and understanding of Sports Massage, you will not be able to promote your services and skills in an ethical manner.

In this lesson we’re going to learn about what Trigger Point Therapy is and the benefits of using this method within Sports Massage to enable quicker and effective results for your clients. This is important because without a good understanding of how Trigger Point Therapy works, you will be unable to effectively educate clients about the benefits coupled with Sports Massage and how it works.

In this lesson we’re going to learn about what to prepare for a Sports Massage session. This is important to protect yourself from any possible problems that may occur during and after the massage session with your clients. If you don’t do this in preparation, you may incur losses due to complaints, lawsuits and in certain serious situations clients ending up in hospital. It is the responsibility of the sports massage therapist to always be prepared and aware of possible contraindications that may occur during the massage session.

In this lesson we’re going to learn about the do’s and don'ts of running a Sports Massage session. This is important because whether you are a male or female therapist or someone interested to start your own business in Sports Massage. There are ethical boundaries we should adhere to at all times. If you do not follow these safety considerations, you may end up facing the law as the consequence of your action.

Effleurage is a form of massage involving stroking movements with the hands sliding over the skin. It is used at the beginning and at the end as well as in between other techniques during a massage session. The stroking technique of effleurage may be used with varying pressure and speed according to the purpose and stage of the massage. Effleurage includes light stroking, firm stroking and deep stroking.

Petrissage comes from the French word, pétrir, which means ‘to knead’. The basic petrissage movement is to compress and then release the soft tissue, using either direct pressure or by picking up and squeezing the skin and muscle.

It is vital to understand that such techniques disrupt the tissues in order to realign new fibres and therefore must be used sparingly and only when the need arises. Several benefits of friction may be generated by using deep stroking instead; the subtle difference between the two techniques being slightly less pressure and therefore no disruption caused.

Tapotement describes techniques such as hacking and cupping which have their place in massage aimed towards relaxation.

This is an optional area of practice as it may be counter productive when doing Sports Massage. For this reason, just doing basic shaking after the area has been released is enough.

Don't forget to join our Sports Massage Private Facebook Group for more discussions, use the resources provided to learn more and practice identifying anatomy and how it works.