Injury prevention in soccer can be seen as a key component to team performance, with teams that manage to reduce their incidence of injuries performing better throughout the league and European competitions (Bengtsson et al 2013).In team sports, research shows a strong link between player availability and the success of the team, and that injuries and illness are the most common reasons for athlete unavailability in training and matches (Williams et al 2015). Research in team sports demonstrates an inverse relationship between injury burden and success of the team. Lower player availability is associated with failure to achieve key performance indicators. Injuries detrimentally affect the final ranking position in team sports (Drew et al 2017). And, research from professional European football shows lower season injury rates results in more successful seasons This correlation obviously makes sense as teams who manage to keep their best players on the pitch consistently manage to perform better over a longer period of time. This could be seen as an obvious example with Liverpool two seasons ago as they lost numerous centre backs and caused them to go from resounding champions the year previous to a poorly 3rd place.
As previously mentioned in one of our posts, the majority of injuries that happen in professional soccer are lower limb injuries (60-90%) (Woods et al 2002). These injuries are typically non contact, and are typically classified as sprains, strains, or tears, depending on the body part affected (Alentorn-Geli et al 2009). These type of non-contact injuries are preventable, and have been largely correlated with inappropriate warm ups, muscle fatigue, and muscle imbalance (Ekstrand et al 2011).
An adequate warm up applied on a consistent basis has been the approach that FIFA have taken to help reduce the incidence of injuries across amateur soccer. A dedicated programme called the FIFA 11+ was created. The warm up programme consists of 15 various exercises which incorporates plyometrics, eccentric thigh training, core and dynamic stabilization along with proprioceptive work. The programme is completed in 3 stages with the 15 exercises due to be completed in a specific sequence, with a large emphasis placed on correct body control and appropriate posture (Barengo et al 2014). Further factors which influence the effectiveness of the programme is that it is lead by a qualified trainer (Liberatti et al 2009) and that it is completed twice per week (Daneshjoo et al 2012).
The FIFA 11 programme has gone under comprehensive studies and is shown to be effective at significantly reducing the incidence of non-contact injuries in soccer, with a systematic review showing an approximate 30% decrease in injuries in athletes over the age of 13, both male and female who carry out the FIFA 11 protocol on a weekly basis (Sadigursky et al 2017). It reduces the top four most prevalent football injuries: hamstring, hip/groin, knee and ankle injury by 60%, 41%, 48% and 32%, respectively.
While it is not plausible to eradicate injuries from sport, it is certainly possible to reduce the yearly injury rate, and a good starting point for soccer players is the FIFA 11+ programme. A simple 8-10 minute warm up could seem long at the time, but it definitely does not compare to a month on the sideline for an injury that was completely avoidable if an adequate warm up took place!
