Football injuries, although part and parcel, are a nightmare to every football player - the road to recovery is often long and frustrating and compounded by the uncertainty of whether one can recover to play at a high intensity again. Just ask some of our players like our inspirational Passmaster Mok, speedy Rampage Wong, and Ws, who had their knees reconstructed due to injuries, and they will share the same painful story. The moral of the story is that in order to enjoy football longevity, like Giggs who turns 74 this year (happy birthday giggsy), it is vital that we keep ourselves away from injuries by equipping ourselves with the basic know-how on injury prevention.
So here are some of the tips on injury prevention:
1. Rest.
Rest is as critical as training, if not more. Sleep well after a long day to allow your muscles to recover. Abstain from the game totally when you are injured or risk aggravating it; a recent example would be William Gallas’ injury recurrence at the Arsenal-Barca match. And practise RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) when injured. Also, ensure that you have enough sleep the night before the match (and Dinie you’re no exception:p) so that you are fresh and ready to go.
At times it is even good that one takes part in other sports or a break from football totally to prevent a burn-out.
2. Stretching
I feel that many of us have misunderstood the concept of stretching. It is not as important to stretch during the match per se as stretching everyday to keep your muscles and joints flexible. Therefore, I encourage you to have a stretching routine and stick to it at least once every day. I’d like to stress on stretching the IT band (the outer side of your thighs and bums), glutes and adductors as they are very important in preventing knee injuries but are often neglected.
Some sports science critics have reviled stretching before the game for impeding an athlete’s performance during the game. I still stretch lightly anyway as it feels good and gives me a psychological boost. Lol. So do it at your own discretion. Personally I do not encourage you to stretch excessively before a match. Rather, warm up your joints and body by rotating your joints, jogging, doing basic drills and kicking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWpuZbTS5yo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJku9MrJ3Ug&feature=related
3. Strength and Conditioning
Strength and conditioning training is extremely important too - my ACL rehabilitation was spent predominantly in a gym. Target your core, quads, bum and calves particularly. Train explosively to keep your body sharp and agile. You can even do this at home by doing bodyweight exercises like explosive jump squats, skipping and other stuffs.
4. Keeping fit
It is also important that you keep yourself fit in order to meet the demands of the game. Run regularly to keep your cardio fitness up because the chance of injury increases with the onset of fatigue during the match. Play the game regularly and have a desire to bring your game to the next level.
5. Please enjoy the following clips I have for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq_cwwWcyqQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvvKUtHlDK8
These nonsense are all gathered from my personal experiences. Feel free to comment or ask me about anything. Bye.
–Xabi Ws
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