By Debayan Mukherjee,
AIFF Media Team

WEST BANK: Recovery of players is one of the key factors to success in tournaments like the AFC Cup where you play every alternate day. No wonder India physiotherapist Dimple Maniar stays busy 24x7.

Three high-intensity matches in five days is bound to take a toll on any footballer. So it is not surprising to see India Women’s Senior Team members crowding in front of the Physio’s room after every team session, and even after Match days. While some report discomfort, others seek comfort. All stay fatigued.

“For a recovery period, 24 hours is enough. But that is a luxury in the AFC Cup. We play every alternate day, which means we train the next day of the match. Hence, recovery period is minimised. It’s the duty of the physiotherapist to make up for lost recovery time,” says Dimple who is on her maiden Camp with the Women’s Senior National Team.

She continues: “Recovery is basically the preparation your body needs for the next action that is the next match. A football match of 90 minutes takes a lot out of a player. A lot of fluid is lost. Re-hydration, proper diet and rest are the basics of recovery. You need to take utmost care of all.”

“There are other areas as well. The artificial turf we are playing on has a lot of rubber. Hence, the chance of a muscle pull or having a sore muscle increases. Your feet tend to get heavy thus reducing the actions per minute. To tackle such injuries, I have got three types of portable treatments with me,” she informs.

Explaining the utility of the three treatments while attending striker Bala Devi and Captain Tuli Goon, the Mumbai based physio adds: “The Ultrasound treatment is for injuries sustained in a local area, say a deep cut. It helps heal the affected area faster. The second one is a faradic current treatment which relaxes the muscles. It is very effective during muscle pull or strain. Ten’s the third one which is used only when an injury starts spreading.”

National Coach Anadi Barua understands the importance of recovery of his players.

“If my player is not fit, I won’t get the best from her. Our physiotherapist stresses on the importance of warm-up before every training session and match. She instructs the players to do certain drills as part of recovery. We follow that strictly. There’s no compromise with recovery sessions.”

Dimple worked a lot on core strengthening exercises during the one-month Camp in Pune before the AFC Asian Cup. Ace striker Bala Devi admits the intense gym sessions over the one-month period are finally paying off.

“I picked up a bad injury while going for an aerial ball against Bahrain in the first of the two International Friendlies. It was a sort of concussion and I felt dizzy. But the core strengthening exercises we were made to do in Pune helped me recover fast,” she tells you.