Statistics show that there are ~15-20 injuries for every 1000 hours of game time in players over 15 with the bulk of injuries (up to 90%!) occuring in the lower extremities! So what can be done?
With all these injuries and a lot of playing time lost in amateur and professional players alike something had to be done. Through countless hours of research and trials FIFA developed an amazing injury prevention program called FIFA 11+ to address this issue. FIFA 11+ is a series of 10 exercises that you do pre-match to make sure your body is in its best state to do all the movements necessary for football.
The program has been shown to have a 35% reduction in ALL injuries in the players who have high compliance to this program!
Not only did FIFA 11+ reduce injuries but its been shown that the players performed better as well! What a great program!
So do you warm up appropriately before playing? If not come visit one of our physiotherapists today so that we can screen you for any potential injuries and set you up with this great injury prevention program to keep you on the pitch!
Reference:
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/11/11986
Barengo NC, Meneses-Echávez JF, Ramírez-Vélez R, Cohen DD, Tovar G, Bautista JEC. The Impact of the FIFA 11+ Training Program on Injury Prevention in Football Players: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2014; 11(11):11986-12000.
