There’s something about the hammy.
There’s few injuries as frustrating as the ol’ hamstrings. There’s few injuries as prevalent as them.
One of Tipperary’s greatest ever forwards Lar Corbett suffered from chronic hamstring problems early in his career. As a 21/22 year-old, the Thurles Sarsfields club man was dogged by his pair.
Tears, strains, stretches, rehabilitation, the most lethal attacker in hurling for some time went through it all. The injury plagued him, it kept recurring and it shot his confidence to bits.
It’s one of those things that you can’t predict. You could be flying it out with a ball, at full pelt, feeling 100% and then just like that the hamstring muscles overstretch or contract and you’ve pulled up and you’re out. You’re gone.
9.30 tonight. TG4. Unmissable. @SportTG4 @Laochra_Gael https://t.co/nlzHlmhaM6
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 28, 2018
Corbett’s Laochra Gael was broadcast on TG4 on Wednesday night, and the true depths of his hamstring horrors were revealed.
“I remember getting a hamstring problem in 2002. That was the first time,” he said.
Hurling meant so much to Larry. Being deprived of that by injuries really hurt him.
“I know I wasn’t involved much. I knew the hamstrings were at me every second week. I know I was going up and down the country meeting X, Y and Z but wasn’t getting the answers, wasn’t getting any better. I was really, really down.”
Perhaps the most troubling part about the hamstring injury lies in its unpredictability. There’s no warning, no signs.
“If your ankle is sore, when you’re going up and down the stairs at home, you can actually test it to see is it okay. With your hamstring, you can never test it until it’s too late, because you can only do that when you’re running full belt.”
The Premier County’s most threatening forward travelled far and wide to physio after physio, surgeon after surgeon. No luck. His mother felt the pain as much as he did.
“It was very frustrating for Lar because it was sore, and he went to different physios. He’d come back and say, ‘he’s no good, he’s no good.'”
His teammate Eoin Kelly noticed management teams doubting Lar, doubting his mentality. Those are the worries that injured players have to face.
“When a lad is coming off with a small niggle of a hamstring here, the management are starting to question, is this guy for real…The management started to lose faith in him. I’d say his confidence was at rock bottom,” he said.
Eventually, it came right for Corbett. The key ingredient was patience. Listening to his hamstring and taking a break.
“The first thing he said was we don’t do miracles up here. I said, I didn’t get into my car in Thurles this morning at 6.30am for a miracle. I came up here for an answer.
“His advice was that I had to take a step back from it. The possibility was that you mightn’t be playing hurling next year was very, very high. I thought it was over. Maybe I wanted it to be over.
“I remember going to Gerard Hartman. He said if your hamstring could talk right now, it would scream, give me a break.That was the start of coming back on the right road,” he said.
Corbett really came into his own in 2009 and through to 2010 and 2011 when he was in his late 20s. During that period he was the deadliest forward in hurling and helped Tipperary to win their first All-Ireland in nine years.
Not overworking aching hamstrings in those early years was key to that.
The whole programme earned rave reviews. His hamstrings were the burning topic.
Clar iontach go dti seo @Laochra_Gael Lar has even worse hamstrings then me 😕@kevwalzer
— Cárthach Bán Breathnach (@cartyban) February 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/coyner98/status/968973711696191488
@Laochra_Gael , hats of to ye lads, cracking show, great to see the man chatting rather than wearing his jersey, nearly like him now
— cormac o connor (@cormacfoc) February 28, 2018
