A&H

knees...

richard ramjane

RefChat Addict
its offical... crabbing and my knees are not a match made in heaven... line thursday and then again saturday and i'm in bits today.
 
The Referee Store
Certainly not on most grounds as hard as they are now - even with this summer!

I'm still resting/getting fit for next season myself!;)
 
My knees are not in a good way and I blame years of crabbing, something the surgeon and physio have both agreed with. However post surgery the physio gave me an exercise to do which has made a massive difference. Get a resistance band and put it around your ankles, resistance needs to be strong enough to make it an effort to spread your legs but not too hard. Find a straight bit of room or corridor, point the toes inwards, bend the knees and lean slightly forward. Then move one leg out to the side until the resistance is felt, then bring the other leg to meet the one you moved. Repeat until you run out of room then go back the other way, and do this for up to 5 minutes a day. It hurts like hell, especially when you first start but it makes a big difference.

All to do with the muscle that runs down the side of your body, can't remember the name, as if these are weak it can unbalance the knee.
 
My knees are not in a good way and I blame years of crabbing, something the surgeon and physio have both agreed with. However post surgery the physio gave me an exercise to do which has made a massive difference. Get a resistance band and put it around your ankles, resistance needs to be strong enough to make it an effort to spread your legs but not too hard. Find a straight bit of room or corridor, point the toes inwards, bend the knees and lean slightly forward. Then move one leg out to the side until the resistance is felt, then bring the other leg to meet the one you moved. Repeat until you run out of room then go back the other way, and do this for up to 5 minutes a day. It hurts like hell, especially when you first start but it makes a big difference.

All to do with the muscle that runs down the side of your body, can't remember the name, as if these are weak it can unbalance the knee.
thanks @RustyRef ive got one of those bands from some previous physio, so i'll give that a go.... got nothing until first week of August now so i'll see if that makes a difference
 
Know that feeling , i've got degenerative arthritis in my right knee,pain,pain,pain.... probably in a few years time will need a new knee (probaly made in China or Taiwan) so making the most of my refereeing.
 
Know that feeling , i've got degenerative arthritis in my right knee,pain,pain,pain.... probably in a few years time will need a new knee (probaly made in China or Taiwan) so making the most of my refereeing.

Yeah, that's pretty much the same as me, although the surgeon couldn't be sure if it was that or the knee not tracking properly that had worn away cartilage. Part of the right knee now only has a thin layer of cartilage cover and if this goes I'm in trouble and looking at either a graft or knee cap replacement. That's the main reason I stepped down from level 3 as now I can referee and train at my own pace and that should put the inevitable off for at least a few years longer.
 
Yeah, that's pretty much the same as me, although the surgeon couldn't be sure if it was that or the knee not tracking properly that had worn away cartilage. Part of the right knee now only has a thin layer of cartilage cover and if this goes I'm in trouble and looking at either a graft or knee cap replacement. That's the main reason I stepped down from level 3 as now I can referee and train at my own pace and that should put the inevitable off for at least a few years longer.
I saw a specialist the other week, and after a few stretch/movement tests he said it sounds and feels like a bag of spanners in there.....
I am more conscious of my positioning on the pitch to reduce my running, as my knee tends to swell and hurt like hell after 90 minutes, this is the reason why i won't go for promotion.
 
Last edited:
I saw a specialist the other week, and after a few stretch/movement tests he said it sounds and feels like a bag of spanners in there.....
I am more conscious of my positioning on the pitch to reduce my running, as my knee tends to swell and hurt like hell after 90 minutes, this is the reason why i won't go for promotion.

I'm actually OK with refereeing, as long as I restrict myself to two games a week maximum. And the fitness is still there as I did almost 3km in 12 minutes at the fitness test last weekend.

The main difference in dropping down is being able to manage the training. Now I can drop the pounding the streets and treadmills, and rather concentrate on low impact exercises like cross trainer and cycling. Also the clawing back of time makes a massive difference, I'm not put under as much stress at work in terms of having to get to games. At level 3E referees will often want you there as much as two and a half hours before kick off, even for midweek games, so you are looking at a very early exit from work even for just a local game. Chuck in a three hour drive and it then can become a logistical nightmare, as you're then making up hours for the rest of the week to account for those you have lost by disappearing off at 1pm on a Tuesday to get to a game. I actually go to the gym far more frequently now than I did when I was a L3, which is worrying to say the least.

But the biggest difference of all I think is the lack of long car journeys. If you have a dodgy knee the last thing you want to do is referee or line on a game of football, then sit in a car for two or three hours. Everything seizes up, and the next few days then become a big problem.

That said, I loved my 10 years at levels 4 and 3, my body and work commitments were just screaming at me to step back down and I listened to them.
 
I'm actually OK with refereeing, as long as I restrict myself to two games a week maximum. And the fitness is still there as I did almost 3km in 12 minutes at the fitness test last weekend.

The main difference in dropping down is being able to manage the training. Now I can drop the pounding the streets and treadmills, and rather concentrate on low impact exercises like cross trainer and cycling. Also the clawing back of time makes a massive difference, I'm not put under as much stress at work in terms of having to get to games. At level 3E referees will often want you there as much as two and a half hours before kick off, even for midweek games, so you are looking at a very early exit from work even for just a local game. Chuck in a three hour drive and it then can become a logistical nightmare, as you're then making up hours for the rest of the week to account for those you have lost by disappearing off at 1pm on a Tuesday to get to a game. I actually go to the gym far more frequently now than I did when I was a L3, which is worrying to say the least.

But the biggest difference of all I think is the lack of long car journeys. If you have a dodgy knee the last thing you want to do is referee or line on a game of football, then sit in a car for two or three hours. Everything seizes up, and the next few days then become a big problem.

That said, I loved my 10 years at levels 4 and 3, my body and work commitments were just screaming at me to step back down and I listened to them.
This is my 11th year of refereeing and loved every minute, and will keep doing it till either my body says "no" or the doctor says "no"
 
Back
Top