Summer Sports Series: Soccer

Soccer is a fun and easy way to get outside and get a sweat in during these lovely summer months. There are so many aspects to the game that require different ways of training and recovering in order to take the best care of our bodies to be ready to hit the pitch.

Mobility

No doubt that we need to have adequate lower body mobility to be successful while playing soccer. Our hips need to rotate, flex and extend to control the ball and to maneuver around other players. Our knees need to be able to flex well to wind up for a big kick, and have good extension to get the ball that might be a little out of reach. Our ankles need to have good plantarflexion to strike the ball with our laces, enough dorsiflexion and eversion to make a precisely placed pass. Let’s not forget about our upper body though; thoracic rotation will help when you’re looking over your shoulder for the long ball, and shoulder mobility can help you get that defender off your back. The World’s Greatest Stretch is one of the best ways to hit all of these body parts when warming up to play. Soccer requires a good deal of mobility, and without it we may be more prone to ligamentous, tendinous or muscular injuries. 

Neuromuscular control

Good proprioception and body control are keys to playing soccer with finesse. Working on balance and core control can help take our game to the next level. Practicing single leg stability or plyometrics on a variety of surfaces (foam pad, bosu, turf field, ect) can help prime our nervous systems to be able to maintain footing if and when the surface we’re playing on becomes less predictable. Good core strength also helps many aspects of the game; strong obliques improve sprinting ability and helps us stay up when we’re going shoulder to shoulder with another player for the ball. 

Strength

Strength is an obvious advantage for any soccer player. We can run faster, kick harder, defend better. Improving quad strength will not only help kick the ball harder, but it will also help with eccentric control when we need to slow down or begin to change directions. Our hamstrings act as the muscular helper to our ACL as they both prevent too much anterior translation of our shin bone on our femur. Glutes are also vital as soccer is a rotational sport and our glutes provide rotational stability to our legs and are huge in preventing knee injuries. Ultimately, the stronger we are, the better we protect ourselves from injury. 

Common injuries

Some of the most common injuries in soccer include knee injuries such as ACL, MCL or meniscus tears, or ankle injuries such as ATFL sprain, or Achilles tendinopathy. If we are mindful and focus our training attention to all aspects listed above, we have a greater chance at preventing these injuries from occurring. For example, weak glutes have been known to be common in players who rupture their ACLs. If the glutes aren’t strong enough, we may fall into a position of knee valgus where we can experience a buckling and injury. Another example can be a sprained ankle from playing on an uneven grass field. If we don’t practice single leg stability or train on varying surfaces, our bodies have a harder time adapting at game time. 

Notes on equipment

Playing in cleats that show significant wear and tear can make us more susceptible to injury. If the cleats don’t fit snugly, our feet have more room to slip within the boot and we become less stable in them. Shin guards are a necessary evil, and although they don’t prevent intense injuries, you’ll save yourself from gnarly bruises!

Have fun!

The beautiful game is one for anyone and everyone to enjoy. Just be sure to get a proper warm up and notice when you start to fatigue and give yourself a bit of a break. Hope to see you on the pitch! But if you need me in the clinic, I’m happy to help!