Avoid soccer injuries with injury
prevention strategies. This
are important regardless of the age
or sex of the player. The biggest
difference is going to be age and
physical development.
Younger kids under ten years old
tend to get more of the bumps and
bruises from falls and banging into
each other.
As kids grow and their body changes
they become awkward, stiff and lose
flexibility in their movement. This
is why it is important for them to
foam roll, perform active
stretches (active warm up) and
complete a dynamic warm up.
It is also important for coaches and
players to know the appropriate type
and timing of stretches
Coaches must continuously focus on
skill and technique development.
Proper skill development promotes
good function of body mechanics and
this helps to avoid soccer injuries.
It is important for the player to
develop proper motor skills (brain
to muscle communication) for long
term development.
Regardless of the training or
teaching, soccer is a collision
sport that exposes players to
stresses on different body
structures and tissues. Players will
get hurt and that is inevitable.
Thus it is important to develop
strategies to avoid soccer injuries
during training or playing.
One thing I find players, parents
and coaches overlook for soccer
injury prevention are yearly
physicals by their family
physicians.
I also believe that players, parents
and coaches take equipment lightly
because soccer players wear minimal
protective equipment. For example
how many soccer players are
instructed to wear a mouth guard?
It is important to know that
females as young as 12 CAN suffer
from an
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)
injury.
Avoid
Soccer Injuries with Foam Rolling
What is
foam rolling? How will it help my
performance?
The word is slowly getting out about
foam rolling or what is known as the
"cheap man's massage".
For ages we always thought we had to
stretch before activity. Then we
came across the dynamic warm up.
But where does that leave "knotted"
and "stiff" muscles?
This is where this technique is
quite effective in breaking down
these knots.
You can use a tennis ball as an
alternative.
A muscle is like an elastic band. If
the elastic band is knotted and we
try to stretch it, it will become
tighter and eventually break. If we
roll that elastic band back and
forth the knot will eventually get
loose and unravel. Foam rolling does
this for you.
Tennis balls have a great effect in
breaking down this tightness.
Try these exercises indoors or on
the field:
1.
Standing Floor Reach
A. Stand with your feet shoulder
width apart.
B. Reach down and touch the ground
keeping your back straight.
C. Place a tennis ball underneath
your left foot and roll it back and
forth for 1 minute.
D. Repeat the process for the right
foot.
E. Reach down and touch the ground
and see if you went further.
2.
Glute Roll
A. Sit on the ground with your knees
bent, both feet flat.
B. Place a tennis ball under your
left glute (buttock muscle). Roll
back and forth for 30 seconds
C. Repeat for the right side.
3.
Hip Rotator Roll
A. Sit on the ground with your knees
bent, both feet flat.
B. Place a tennis ball under your
left glute (buttock muscle).
C. Cross the left leg over the right
leg such that the left ankle rests
just past the right knee.
D. Roll back and forth for thirty
seconds.
Avoid Soccer injuries
with Active Stretching / Warm Up
Discover how active stretching /warm
up contributes to soccer injury
prevention
I am going to share with you current
thoughts on stretching and when it
is most effective to do.
Quite honestly you can still stretch
before you play or train. The key is
that you must do some form of "soft"
tissue work first. This could be
"foam rolling"; however
in your situation you may do the
foam rolling with a tennis ball.
The
active warm up consists of
active stretching completed in
place. The following exercises are examples
for the major muscle groups of the
lower body to help you avoid soccer
injuries:
1.Split Squat- This will
"stretch" the front of the thigh and
the glute muscles:
A. Place one foot in front of the
other. There should be at least
3.5ft to 4ft distance from the toe
to heel. The back foot should be on
its toes and the front foot flat on
the ground.
B. Keep the body straight.
C. Hands behind head.
D. Drop the back knee to the ground
E. Push up through front heel.
Repeat two more times then switch
leg positions and repeat.
2.
Stationary Lateral Lunge- This will stretch the "groin" muscles.
A. Stand with feet at least 3-4 feet
apart.
B. Raise you arms in front of you
such that your hands are at shoulder
level.
C. Sit in the direction of the left
heel. Then sit in the direction of
the right heel.
Repeat 3-5 times each leg. 3.
Cross Leg Stretch, - this stretches the glute muscles
A. Stand with one leg behind the
other.
B. Drop back knee down
C. Push up through front heel
D. Repeat 3-5 times then switch legs
4.
Push Up Stretch
A. Start in the push up position.
B. Bring the left foot to the
outside of the left hand. Then
return to the starting position.
Repeat three times then do the same
for the right foot.
5.
Foot to Mouth Stretch.
A. Stand with feet shoulder width
apart.
B. Raise left knee to hip height.
C. As you raise the knee turn at the
hip such that the foot is moving
inwards.
D. Hold your foot with both hands
and bring the foot as close as
possible to your mouth.
E. Complete 3-5 times each leg.
These particular active warm up
stretches prepare the body for more
vigorous movement in the dynamic
warm up and help you avoid soccer
injuries.
Avoid Soccer Injuries with
a “Dynamic Warm Up
With or With Out A Soccer Ball?
Dynamic Warm Up For Soccer
I think it is important for you to
understand the purpose of the
dynamic warm up before we go any
further. This type of warm up is
important to do to avoid soccer
injuries.
A dynamic warm up serves to do the
following:
• Increase muscle temperature
– increasing temperature increases
the effectiveness of muscle
contraction and wakes up the nervous
system.
• Increase oxygen to muscles
-this gives muscles more fuel for
energy
• Increase tissue elasticity
in other words the muscles and
tendons lengthen in the process thus
increasing flexibility decreasing
the chance of injury
• Creates movement patterns for
game situations
-for example mimicking the action of
kick allows the muscles of the back
of the leg (hamstrings) to move
through a full range of motion
“actively”
I find this point to be over looked
by most coaches and parents. This is
addressed in the sample warm up.
*** Static Stretching Is Not A Warm
Up! ***
I
treat warm up as a skill. It is
important that young players learn
how to move properly and with
rhythm. The movements in a warm-up
should include:
• Knee to chest
• Straight leg raises (follow
through on a kick)
• knee up to hip height then out to
the side (an exaggeration of opening
up to receive a ball)
• Backwards movement (exaggerating
the stretch in the front of the
thigh)
• Side to side movement (avoid heel
clicking)
• Moving lunge
• Heels to buttocks
Avoid soccer injuries with a
thorough pre-game warm up that
includes: foam rolling ( players may
use a tennis ball or their soccer
ball, active stretching, dynamic
warm up and ball work.
