This is an interesting video clip from The New York Times that explains the medical reasons for Nadal's knee injury. There's a lot of medical vocabulary in the two-minute video clip, but the terms are highlighted in the video clip, which makes comprehension easier.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing words.
The activity is suitable for intermediate students.
(1) ..., extending, twisting, (2) ... , all also supporting the entire weight of the body. This is what makes the knee so vulnerable to athletic injury, especially when that knee belongs to Rafael Nadal.
Last year injuries to his patellar tendon in his left knee forced him to miss seven months of competition. His (3) ... back was slow, largely because of the impact and (4) ... of motion his knee would stand, as this sequence shows. In setting up for his backhand his left foot (5) ... the ground causing a brief hyper-extension of the knee and then an immediate bending.
To maintain balance, the anterior cruciate ligament and the medial meniscus (6) ... to stabilize the (7) ... . Here, on one leg, his left leg is bearing a (9) ... which could exceed a thousand pounds. With the quadriceps (8) ... working to keep the knee (7) ... stable, the patellar tendon is carrying that (9) ... from the (8) ... and pressing on the fat pad, an area of pain for Nadal.
Adding to the stress on the knee is that the tibia is now on a fixed position but the femur is still moving. Nadal’s two-handed back play places even more (6) ... on the left knee. It creates more (10) ... rotation than a one-handed back-hand, causing much more twisting in the knee (7) ... , twisting the patellar tendon and adding stress to the area of Nadal’s injury.
The constant (11) ... on Nadal’s knee will be intensified when he plays the French Open this week, his first Grand Slam event since returning from his injury.
Key:
1 Bending 2 turning 3 road 4 range 5 strikes 6 strain 7 joint 8 muscle 9 load 10 trunk 11 forces
