INJURY PREVENTION FOR SOCCER
Don’t believe everything you see on Instagram! We see countless videos of exercises on Instagram that state ‘Soccer specific training’. You might even catch a glimpse of a superstar player doing something crazy that looks kinda cool.
Although some of these exercises and crazy jumps, hops and bounds might look awesome and beneficial to every single soccer player on the planet, they’re probably not!
We need to be aware of the physical demands that soccer players go through when competing, and what is required to stay available throughout the season.
There needs to be a WHY behind everything we do.
See below 3 identified areas and WHY they should be included in a soccer athletic performance program!
Reactive Strength - This has been shown to have a strong relationship with both change of direction speed and acceleration speed. Plyometrics can improve this quality.
Frontal plane strength - Soccer involves change of direction. Keep our adductors happy and healthy by including frontal plane strengthening exercises.
Hamstring resilience - Sprinting is a key component of the game. Protect those strings through knee dominant hamstring exercises.
3 exercises that target each of the above areas are seen in the above videos:
Mini Hurdle Hops
Side Squats
Hamstring Slides