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One of the ways in which you can increase your chances of becoming a professional soccer player is by avoiding soccer injuries. Soccer injuries can leave out of the starting eleven and delay your progress. Furthermore, coaches can be eager to ditch students, when they are considered fragile or injury-prone. One of the most effective ways to not get injured is to have an injury-free history. To keep fit and injury-free is a must for future professionals. This article shows you how to avoid soccer injury and increases your chances of becoming a professional soccer player.
Importance Of Avoiding Soccer Injuries
Avoiding injuries creates champions. Leceister City became champions of the premier league in the 2015-2016 season. While both Watford and Southhampton experienced some of their best seasons ever. All these three teams had some of the least amounts of injuries of all premier league teams. While the average number of injuries per club is about 50, Leicester City only had 19!
Injuries In Soccer
Soccer is an injury-prone sport. Of all team sports soccer has been noted as receiving the most injuries. The number varies between 5 and 17 injuries per 1000 hours of soccer. Every player in a team has about 2 injuries per season. Injuries occur most likely in the lower extremities (ankles, hamstring, and knees). Most injuries, for both youth and adults, occur during the matches. The problem with youth soccer is that compared to adult soccer, youth soccer players have more injuries during practice.
2 Main Factors That Cause Injury
The largest study to date with professional soccer players showed that there are 2 main factors that increase getting an injury. These 2 factors are
- Age; as we age, it increases the chances of getting an injury
- Injury history; once you sustained an injury, chances of getting another injury are greatly increased
Although the age factor is difficult to change, the chance of getting an injury can be decreased. Look below to see the difference between the chance of getting an injury between a group that has sustained an injury in the past versus a group that is injury-free. When professional soccer players sustained a previous strain, the chances of sustaining another strain is more than 400%. Data from here.
To avoid injury you have to start early. By laying the foundation when you are young, you can prevent injuries when you become a professional. Let’s have a look at the elite young soccer players. Let’s find out how they get injured? when they get injured? and what age they are most vulnerable?
All About Injuries At Professional Soccer Youth Academies
Both Thiery Henry and J-P Papin started their career in the famous INF. INF stands for the French National Institute of Football (INF). This soccer academy is part of a government initiative to select a limited amount of soccer potentials to be transformed into professional soccer players. INF focuses on under 14, under 15, and under 16 teams. Every team has between 20-24 players This institute follows and investigated injuries over a 10 year period. The institute found out how to avoid soccer injury for each age group. This accumulated into one of the most elaborate and thorough studies up to date. The study looked at more than;
- 205920 hours of training time
- 31680 hours of match time
- 237600 hours of total possible injury exposure time
- In the total hours of injury exposure time, there were A total of 1152 injuries were d1152 injuries noted.
- A total of 660 elite players were followed
Who Got Injured
The greatest amount of injuries were found in the under 14’s. For all age groups, midfield players have the highest amount of injuries. The overall percentage of injuries is about equal across defenders and attackers. See the graphs below
How Bad Were The Injuries
In the study, differences were made between the types of injuries. The classifications are;
- Minor injury; 1-3 days of unable to play soccer
- Mild injury; 4-7 days of unable to play soccer
- Moderate; 1-4 weeks of unbale to play soccer
- Major; more than 1 month of unable to play soccer
Injuries of longer than 1 week can make a big difference. Somebody else can become a part of the starting eleven. More than a month can be the end of your youth career at a professional soccer academy (which does not mean the end of your soccer career). Especially when you are younger, at the under 14’s, you need to prove yourself.
When Did They Get Injured
The soccer season starts in August and ends in June. In all three age groups, total injuries were highest in September (7.4 injuries per 1000 hours of exposure). Also, match-related injuries were highest in September. While training-related injuries were highest in September for the under 14, but for the under 15 and under 16 were highest in November. The highest incidence of major injuries occurred in August, while the lowest happened in June. The month that the soccer season start has a 400% greater incidence of major injuries than the month that the season ends!
Which Body Part Was Injured Most During Soccer
71% of all injuries are located in the lower body. The most common locations of injuries were the upper leg, ankle, and knee. A good soccer club can train on these body parts and possibly offer protection.
What Type Of Injury Occured At What Age
Looking at different age groups, there are different injuries that happen. This could be important as one can avoid or take precautions against specific injuries. Although the greatest number of injuries are seen in the contusion/hematoma group. The biggest difference between the age groups and following the pattern of age is osteochondroses. Let’s find out more about osteochondroses.
Osteochondroses
Our human body is going through many phases in the growth and destruction of tissues. During puberty, the growth of bones is increased and this process can be easily distorted. Osteochondroses can be broken down into osteo = bone, and chondrosis = cartilage deterioration. The degeneration of bones happens especially at the end of bones (epiphysis), which connects to other tissues. The origin of osteochondrosis is largely unknown but is associated with an excess of physical activity. Many studies have been looking into osteochondrosis and found that ate age 14 the incidence is greatest. The graph below shows the number of young athletes with osteochondroses. Notice the big rise at age 14 and decline after age 15. The same study found that of all team sports researched, soccer had the highest incidence of osteochondroses. Find the study here. This could mean that overtraining could be a reason for the high incidence of osteochondroses.
How To Avoid Soccer Injury At The Club Level
7 Rules Of Avoiding Soccer Injuries
A Swedish study was performed over 35 years ago. In 1983, Ekstrand led a study involving 6 teams that followed 7 simple and effective rules and 6 teams that were the control group. Both groups were followed for 6 months. After 6 months the teams following the 7 rules noticed a 75% reduction in injuries. Let’s have a closer look.
Rule Number 1 Correction Of Training
All players were educated on the specific training procedure. This included spine, knee and hip position. The correct posture was explained by professionals. Several studies have indicated that top athletes have more efficient motion control. Furthermore, top athletes have more variety in their movement to avoid injuries. These techniques can be learned and taught.
Rule 2 Provision Of Optimum Equipment
A lot of soccer players don’t want to wear shin pads during soccer practice. Furthermore, the increase in synthetic grass increases the need for a variety of shoes. During the Ekstrand study, all training equipment was checked and purchased. Furthermore, shin pads and protective equipment was checked. During winter months, special winter equipment was arranged.
Rule 3 Prophylactic Ankle Taping
By checking the history of the players, you can find out why has got weak ankles and are prone to injury. In the study players with weak ankles were taped before practice and games. Even if ankles felt fine, ankles were cautionary taped. A study from 1997 showed that ankle braces are most effective. In this study, more than 50 soccer players were followed for 5 years. The soccer players were either
- Wearing an ankle brace,
- Were taped
- A combination of braces and taping
- No treatment
After more than 1700 practices and 650 matches combines the injury results showed the following numbers. Braced soccer players had a 0% recurrence rate, taped and braced 25% and no treatment had 35%. See the study here.
Rule 4 Controlled Rehabilitation
All players with injured had to go through supervised rehabilitation. In a competitive environment, there is a lot of pressure for players to play. In the 1983 Ekstrand study players had to be supervised in their recovery.
Rule 5 Exclusion Of Players With Grave Knee Instability
Players with knee instability were not allowed to participate to join the training. Only after stability was shown, players could regain training. instability of the knee is a factor in getting injured.
Rule 6 Information About The Importance Of Disciplined Play And The Increased Risk Of Injury At Training Camps
Players were given education and were told the importance of discipline. This means among others; following the rules of proper body mechanics, see rule 1.
Rule 7 Correction And Supervision By Doctor(s) And Physiotherapist(s)
All the rules were supervised by a doctor and physiotherapist. The injury and stability status has to be approved by either a doctor and physiotherapist. Read the study here.
How To Avoid Soccer Injury At The Individual Level
Beyond depending on others for your injury-free career, you should take care of yourself. Soccer is a team sport and as such your workload is dependable on your group. Your coach will not lower the workload as most soccer players can handle it. Below is a very detailed and elaborate diagram of finding your weakness. Thorugh letting a professional (or becoming your own expert) determining your weakness, you can try to fix your potential of injury. This is a very specific approach and is in need of constant evaluation.
How To Avoid Soccer Injury At The Knee
Instability of the knee can increase your injury of the knee and surrounding muscles, tendons and ligaments. Look at the picture below and make sure, knee position foot position and trunk position is correct. For more information look here.
How To Avoid Soccer Injury At The Ankle
Apart from the knee joint, the ankle joint can cause problems. Because soccer is a contact sport, avoid all injuries is unlikely. However, a lot of ankles injuries occur via non-contact. Of all ankle injuries in soccer, ankle sprains are the most common foot and ankle injury. See the graph below when non-contact ankle sprains happen.
One study found that incorporating trunk stabilization exercises in the warm-up reduced ankle injuries significantly. Below are examples of the trunk stabilization exercises done.
