One of the most important goals of a soccer training program is to reduce the injury risk of the athlete. It’s impossible to erase this risk, of course, but lowering the overall risk is perhaps the greatest performance enhancing benefit that training can provide. When an athlete is injured and unable to play, they become the worst player on the team. Actually, they are the worst player in the entire league – tied for worst with everyone else that is also unable to play. A team that has less injuries and more of their better players actually playing the game at the end of the season is more likely to win when it really matters.
Sports performance training can help reduce injury risk by reducing muscle asymmetries, improving the body’s ability to absorb ground contact forces, and improving an athlete’s range of motion.
Muscle asymmetries may increase the risk of injury. There are two types of asymmetries to consider – limb to limb and intra-limb asymmetries. Many soccer players may have limb to limb asymmetries, particularly in the hamstrings and glutes. When the hamstring on the left is significantly weaker than the one on the right, the athlete may be at increased risk of injury. There are also asymmetries between two muscle groups like the hamstring and the quadricep on the same leg. An athlete that has weak hamstrings relative to their quadriceps may be at increased risk of hamstring strains or possibly even acute knee injuries like ACL tears. Soccer practice and game play appears to over time cause muscular imbalances, similar to other sports, that can and should be corrected in the gym setting. A good training program will emphasize hamstring strength, particularly eccentric strength, and glute activation to combat the reduction in strength of these muscles.
One misconception about sports performance training is that to be sport-specific it should simply mimic the movements of the athlete in the sport. The problem here is that then training becomes soccer – it provides the same type of stimulus and can further aggravate asymmetries, muscle fatigue, soreness, etc. Instead of being designed to improve soccer performance it is simply being designed to look like soccer!
Soccer requires athletes to absorb high ground contact forces, particularly when cutting or decelerating quickly. Non-contact ACL injuries often occur when the knee “caves inward” (knee valgus). The muscular system is unable to withstand the high force and so that force must be absorbed by other connective tissues. The soccer player with higher eccentric strength – the ability to stop or slow a movement – will have a lower risk of injury. Soccer training should include jumping and one major teaching point with jump training is the need to avoid knee valgus throughout the landing or jumping phases. Many athletes can correct the landing mechanics, suggesting the knee valgus issue is in part a motor control problem.
Finally, an athlete’s range of motion is an important risk factor to consider. Athlete’s that lack hip rotation are at an increased risk of ACL tears. A good soccer training program also incorporates hip internal and external rotation exercises.
At Fortis, we take all of these considerations into account when designing and implementing our soccer sports performance programming!
