Do you call it Soccer or Football?
Here in Canada, we say soccer. Our European and South African counterparts call it Football. Makes more sense as you do use your feet more than the other type of tackle football…but we digress. Whether you call it soccer or football – injury prevention, recovery, and remedies are the same across the board. Soccer is one of the most popular sports played worldwide and is the fastest growing sport in Canada.
Given this trend, prevention comes first on the soccer field! We don’t want to have you deal with an injury, so here are some tips and tricks to avoid rolling your ankle or injuring your knee.
Soccer Safety while kicking the ball this summer
Many of us like to get active during the summer months. But how do we reduce injuries while on the field? Review this list to make sure you are less susceptible to injury:
- Pre-season conditioning is vital to return to the outdoor field. This involves building strength in hip muscles, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf, practicing pivots, jumping and landing to improve proprioception and flexibility training.
- Start with a good warm up. This includes jogging, stretching (especially the hip, quadriceps, hamstrings, groin, and achilles) and loosening up the joints with a range of movement exercises.
- If you have had recent ankle injury then wear a brace during your rehabilitation stage (same for the knee).
- Wear properly fitted shoes/cleats.
- Protect your shins with shin guards that meet appropriate safety standards to reduce injuries to the tibia (shin bone).
- If the weather is rainy or cold spend more time warming up and dress appropriately!
- Cold muscles and joints are more prone to strains and sprains
- Most people forget to cool down! Make sure you do so ( walking/gentle stretches). Going from sprinting in a soccer game to just sitting down makes you susceptible to sprains and strains and increases post-game muscle soreness and tenderness.
- Proper field conditions are vital in preventing soccer injuries
- Remember to hydrate adequately as well!
Ankles and knees are the most commonly injured joints in soccer. Reduce this risk with a good warm up and cool down. At Brentwood Physio, we help you recover from sports injuries and relieve pain if you get to that point.
So get out on the Football…erhm I mean Soccer field!
Get out there and enjoy the soccer field! Join a recreational league or get out and kick the soccer ball around for fun. Nothing beats a nice day in the sun enjoying sports and staying safe while doing it. Remember to practice soccer safety tips to avoid injury. Do you prefer another sport? Tell us what sport you like to play, do it on social!
You can follow/like and review us on Facebook, Google, and Yelp. If you really feel the need you can post reviews on all three! And don’t forget to let us know what your favourite sport is. Tennis, Basketball or maybe lawn bowling?
Here are direct links to get social with us:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/brentwoodphysiocalgary/reviews/
https://www.yelp.ca/biz/brentwood-physiotherapy-clinic-calgary
https://www.google.ca/#q=brentwood+physiotherapy
