Soccer training and overuse injuries

Sobha's busy soccer training schedule could have lead to overuse injuries if we hadn't been monitoring his progress and adjusting the intensity of the work involved.

Slight pangs of pain alerted us to an area around his hip which is prone to overuse in youth soccer players.

Coupled with another growth spurt his training program and schedule has been reevaluated and restructured.

The importance of monitoring, analysing and adjusting kids soccer training programs is so important that parents and coaches who overlook to put a safety mechanism in place risk the future soccer careers of their kids.

Here are a couple of articles that may help you understand more about soccer training overuse injuries.

How To Recognize and Prevent Overuse Injuries in Soccer
by Gary A. Levengood, M.D.

Soccer, one of the most popular team sports in the world with over 200 million registered players worldwide, is a game of nonstop action. Most injuries in soccer occur in the lower body, mostly to the knees and ankles.However, repeated or prolonged use (overuse) injuries are common problems, especially toward the end of a long and gruelling season. These injuries are the result of constant overloading and wearing down of a tendon (tissue connecting muscle to bone), muscle, bone or joint, resulting in the inability of that structure to perform its normal biomechanical duties….

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How to prevent overuse injuries

by Steve Watson http://www.footy4kids.co.uk

Overuse injuries in children are increasing in frequency and you are right to be concerned.

I think that the key to avoiding overuse injuries lies in understanding the root causes. Most agree that these are:

• Growth spurts
• Inadequate warm up
• Excessive activity (for example, increased intensity, duration, or frequency of playing and/or training)
• Improper technique (for example, overextending on a pitch)
• Unsuitable equipment (for example, nonsupportive athletic shoes)

I would suggest that children who are coached by qualified sports coaches who understand the risks, teach correct techniques, use effective warm up activities and are careful to increase the intensity of training in a controlled way will not be at much risk from developing an overuse injury.

In addition, the careful selection of footwear will help prevent all injuries, including overuse injuries, to the foot, ankle and knee.

It is also important to make sure that children are physically fit before taking part in organised sport and that they are stopped from playing altogether if they complain of pain.

I would also recommend that young children do not play competitive sport - youth sports should always be fun and the "win at all costs" attitude of many parents, coaches, professional athletes, and peers can lead to injuries. A young athlete striving to meet the unrealistic expectations of others may ignore the warning signs of injury and continue to play with pain.