Softball: Resting up for the big games

By JULIE ASH


Lying on a couch with a swollen ankle isn't the preparation Black Sox catcher Bevan Martin thought he would be doing two months before the world championships.

Martin's right ankle gave Black Sox coaching staff a scare last week after it swelled up while he was out running.

Martin snapped a tendon in his left ankle last April, also while running. The injury required corrective surgery.

Last week the same tendon in his right ankle swelled during a run.

Initially, it was thought he had ruptured the tendon, which would have ruled him out of February's world championships in Christchurch.

But the tendon is intact.

"It is not snapped, it is just really swollen and twice the size it should be," said Martin, who has 70 international caps .

"So it is a matter of just resting it and going to physio three times a week."

Martin meets medical staff today to assess the damage and discuss a possible return to the national league.

"Obviously I won't be playing this weekend. Whether I play in the last round and then in the final depends on what they tell me."

Most of his mates have recommended that Martin give up running, but he believes his high-arched feet could be the root of the problem.

"It was not a case of tripping over or rolling an ankle, it was just one of those things.

"They are not too sure how it happens but I have got high arched feet and they say that can happen to people with high arched feet.

"It is a bit of a blow but on the positive side it is not snapped."

The injury put him out of last weekend's opening round of the national league.

He will be on the sideline again this weekend when his Wellington side play Hutt Valley and the Central Vikings in Wellington.

After last weekend's opening round, the unbeaten Hutt Valley side is at the top of the table, ahead of Wellington.

"Mark Sorenson coming back is obviously really good for them," Martin said of the Hutt Valley side.

"He brings a big presence into it.

"But looking at the Central Vikings, they won three games in the weekend and they have put themselves into a top four spot after one week.

"So it's a tough weekend."

The Black Sox' next camp is not until the new year so Martin has plenty of time to recover from the injury.

But he is considering using his dodgy ankles to try and get out of coach Don Tricker's fitness sessions.

"But then I might have to jog around the track with him," Martin said. "So I am not sure whether that would be a good idea or not."