World Cup special – avoiding injury in football. Game on!
4th November 2022
Georgie Mai
Clinic Director & Lead Sports Therapist
Help yourself – keep football injuries at bay with our info sheets, tips and exercises
With the World Cup kicking off in November we are taking the opportunity to look at strategies for avoiding injuries in football. Whilst ‘contact’ injuries are often unavoidable due to the nature of play, many injuries that our team see are preventable because they are caused by an underlying issue in conditioning or training.
We see so many football players in clinic – girls and guys of all ages and abilities from grassroots and 5-a-side to semi-pro and retired professionals.
In this article we are going to share some of our knowledge with you, and we invite you to grab our info sheets that contain tips and exercises to reduce the risk of enforced time away from the game you love!
Surprisingly, nearly half of all football injuries can be avoided
Muscle injuries are a frequent occurrence among football players. This type of injury is associated with a burst of acceleration or sprinting, sudden stopping, lunging, sliding or a high kick. Muscular groin issues in particular are very common with 1 in 5 players experiencing an injury in a season. Ankle and knee injuries can occur when ligaments are strained during cutting, twisting, jumping, changing direction or contact/tackling.
It’s true – preventing injury is possible. In most cases the injuries we mention above are caused by an underlying weakness or imbalance in the muscles of the leg, core, and pelvis. Football-specific exercises and a training programme designed to address the areas that are most vulnerable to injury during a game can dramatically reduce your risk of getting injured.
Your physical fitness is the single most important factor in preventing football injuries
For instance, studies have found that:
- Strength training can reduce the incidence of injury by nearly half (47%) compared to players who did no specific strength training
- 51% of hamstring injuries can be avoided with good proprioceptive programmes
- Among players who participated in pre-season proprioceptive training 3x a week, there were 7x fewer ACL injuries and an 87% decrease in the risk of ankle sprain
- Neuromuscular training for the knee can reduce the incidents of serious knee injury by 3.5 times.
How to help yourself
We rehabilitate players to ‘game ready’ strength and confidence, but so many of these hamstring, groin or similar problems could have been avoided with the right knowledge. That’s why we are passionate about helping you prevent injury. We are fortunate to have three practitioners with a football specialism – Dan Simm who works in elite football, Tom Mitchell and Emily Field.
- Download our info sheets to give you a better understanding of how to address the issues above, and incorporate the advice into your training and recovery. Our free fact sheets include prevention and treatment techniques for:
ACL Injury
Hamstring Strains
Ankle Sprains
Meniscus Injury
Groin Strains
Contusion Injury - Get injuries assessed and treated swiftly, before they become a major issue by buddying up with a Sports Therapist. An ongoing relationship with one of our knowledgeable and supportive Sports Therapy team will keep you on top form as you move through the season and experience the many niggles, concerns and setbacks that can occur. They get to know you, your body and the demands of your sport.
- Grab a regular Sports Massage – it’s a ‘must’ for anyone in regular training and play. Sports Massage is a beneficial treatment for maintaining and improving flexibility and motion, thereby helping you recover efficiently and reducing your risk of injury caused by negative soft tissue adaptations and musculoskeletal imbalances.
- Consider a Sport-specific Performance Screen with one of our team. This session will help take your performance to the next level by finding the cause of reoccurring pain or problem and equipping you with the treatment and rehabilitation pathway to be your best.
- Sleep. Loads of it!
We’re here for you
We are an established Injury Clinic in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, with a knowledgeable and kind team of Practitioners of varying disciplines. Together we provide Adult and Children’s Physiotherapy, Sports Therapy and Sports Massage, Osteopathy, Running Analysis & Re-Education from our facility in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.
We know we say it a lot, but there’s really nothing we want more than to see you get back to doing what you love; whether that’s competing in sport, doing your job, or spending time with your family and friends. We want to return you to comfortable and strong movement for a healthy, happy, pain-free life and we will support and guide you every step of the way.
Our team is friendly and dedicated. Together we look after amateur and professional athletes, builders, office workers, Mums, Dads, Nans and Grandpas with equal dedication.
Contact Us, or Book Online.
