With the Sochi Olympics now officially under way we have local Tommy Ford and the US Ski Team on our radar. Tommy is a world class alpine skier, represented the U.S. at the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2011 World Championships and more recently scored numerous Top 20 results in World Cup Giant Slalom races.
Slalom ski race courses have gates closely spaced together requiring tight, precise turns whereas giant-slalom races encourage greater speed with more widely spaced gates. Super-giant slalom and downhill race courses have a minimum of gates or turns and emphasize maximum speed.
His 2013 season ended prematurely in France with a fractured femur and surgically implanted rod to stabilize the fracture.
Tommy Ford, as well as the US Snowboard, Ski, and Freeskiing Teams, choose Rebound Physical Therapy as their physical therapy provider. With years of orthopedic excellence in the world of elite sports, the therapists at Rebound provide the cutting-edge treatment demanded by elite athletes around the country.
Rebound Physical Therapist Rene Bates and REP Lab Biomechanics Director Jay Dicharry are working closely with Tommy to progress his rehab now that the rod has been removed. Having already had weeks of progressive physical therapy with Rene Bates, Tommy is now moving forward with state-of-the-art biomechanical analysis and testing at the REP Lab. Dicharry and Bates will be able to use this objective data to help monitor his progress and continue rebuilding for another successful season on the snow for the US Ski Team. He and his therapists aim to begin on-snow training again this coming March.
According to Rene Bates, “Tommy is a natural athlete with incredible body awareness. Having decided to skip this year’s Olympic Games in Sochi and get the rod removed now, Tommy has the time and energy to focus 100% on a successful rehab and return to the slopes later this spring.”
