Why Female Athletes Have More ACL Injuries Than Males
Female athletes rupture their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) more frequently than males…nearly 6-8 times more! In a case like this, health insurance for college athletes would be a step worth taking. As your health should be your top priority, at least if you cover your back, you won’t have much to worry about, even if […]
Best Off-Season Conditioning Strategy for Serious Soccer Players
Every year, as Summer approaches and many sports are winding down for a brief rest period, supportive parents of serious athletes ask, “What should I have my kid do to stay conditioned during the off-season?” In this article, we discuss whether or not a break from sports is beneficial and why; and we discuss some […]
3 Ways to Protect Your Players’ Knees in 3 Minutes
In this series, I’ve put together 3 exercises showing 3 different components of training that will help to strengthen your legs and protect your knees from injury. The best part is that this will only take you a few minutes to do. So, who is this for, you ask? This is for you, if: – […]
An Injury Prevention and Performance Secret Revealed
You have 60 SECONDS before the most competitive event of your life… What do you do to optimize performance and safe execution? In the final minute before she raced in the 2018 Winter Olympics, the camera zoomed in for a close-up of American alpine ski racer, Lindsey Vonn, as she prepared for one of the […]
Why You Should Strengthen Your Hip Muscles
Have you ever wondered why you need to strengthen your hip muscles? Hips were the forgotten link for a long time, but now we put a lot of focus on the hips. What’s all the hype about hip strengthening, anyway??? Many common injuries throughout the body have been associated with a strength deficit (weakness) at […]
What exactly is a pulled hip flexor?
Chances are, that pain is probably not from a pulled hip flexor. Hip impingement, also known as femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (or FAI), is a relatively new concept in the orthopedic and rehabilitation realm. Hip impingement occurs when the head/neck of the femur (thigh bone) contacts the rim of the socket. The area of impingement can […]
5 Tips on the Art of Preventing Ankle Sprains
Ankles are anatomically stabilized passively with ligaments and actively with muscles that cross the ankle complex. An ankle sprain occurs when the joint is forced beyond normal range of motion, causing ligaments to be stretched too far. The result is some degree of ligament fiber failure, which typically includes swelling, stiffness, and pain. If it […]
Goalkeepers Get Injured Too!
When we mention soccer and injuries in the same sentence we tend to think of ankle sprains, torn ACLs and other injuries that are specific to the lower body. Although lower body injuries are the most commonly seen soccer injuries- to the field players- we fail to include the incidence of injury to the last […]
ACL Injuries – Get to Know the Risk Factors
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament, commonly referred to as the ACL, is a dense band of tissue that provides stability to the knee. Fibers of the ACL can be injured or torn when abnormal movement forces the ligament beyond its capacity. Typically, a combination of motions involving twisting at the knee while weight-bearing results in excessive […]
Recover Faster, Injury or No Injury: FDM Q and A with Dr. Chad Wells
It was just another night of pick-up with friends. You know the kind where everyone is out to have fun try new tricks, maybe pull a meg or two. As I am weaving through a couple players I step on a grass mound and roll my ankle. I have felt this before, right away my […]
Shin Splints: Causes, Prevention and Treatment
Soccer Nation is pleased to partner with injury prevention expert, Dr. John Gallucci Jr. MS, PT, DPT, ATC. Check out Gallucci’s article for Soccer Nation readers on the causes, prevention and treatment of shin splints. Soccer season every year sends many athletes running- or limping- into their physician’s offices, athletic training rooms and physical therapy […]
Common Causes of Anterior Knee Pain in Youth Athletes – Part II
In Part I of this article, I presented four causes of anterior knee pain that youth athletes may suffer from, including how they differ and what might contribute to the onset: Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, Patellar Tendonitis, Pes Anserine tendonitis/bursitis, and Osgood Schlatters Disease. These are all unique conditions, and should be treated as individually as […]
Common Causes of Anterior Knee Pain in Youth Athletes – Part I
Knee pain is one of the most common areas of complaint in youth athletics. If you haven’t experienced knee pain yourself, then you probably know someone who has. Knee pain presents in a variety of ways – sharp, dull, achy, unstable, stiff – and in various areas of the knee – front (anterior), back, inside, […]
Achilles Tendonopathy in Soccer
If you are a soccer player, then you may have experienced pain or swelling in the back of your heel, over the thick cord-like structure, called your Achilles Tendon. The Achilles Tendon is a dense tissue that connects the calf muscles, or the gastrocnemius-soleus complex, to the heel bone, known as the calcaneus. When you […]
Ankle Sprains in Soccer: What to Know About Prevention and Rehabilitation – Part I
Ankle sprains are the most common injury in soccer, accounting for nearly 20% of all soccer injuries. Understanding ankle sprains, including prevention and rehabilitation strategies, can be incredibly helpful in minimizing the risk of being sidelined by an ankle sprain. A sprain occurs when a […]
Hope Watson On Soccer in NYC, Her ACL Injury, and Storelli
Soccer truly is more than a game. It blends sport with culture and the passion of the game is felt by fans from all walks of life. Meet Hope Watson, a 26-year old, soccer-obsessed Australian model and Columbia University film student living in New York City. Hope is a lifelong soccer fan who plays for the […]