Football camps throughout the country are now beginning and it is already possible to read of injured players. In addition, the number of football injuries, especially early in the season, has increased greatly in the last few years. Every week you can read articles about how beat up a particular team is and how many of their players are injured. You can even hear fans complaining that if only a top player(s) wasn’t injured, the team would have a better season.
All football injuries are not preventable. However, we know that the number of injuries can be cut down greatly through proper training. This is a proven fact which most teams seem to ignore or when not ignored, use inadequate methods to produce good results. Most often they keep hoping that their players will not get injured. If they are injured, “it is part of the game.”
Coaches think that they are doing their job by hiring strength and conditioning coaches to prevent injury. But little attention is paid to the type of training done by them and when it is done. For example, many players who come into football camp prior to the season are out of shape and work hard to get in shape two-three weeks before the first game. But to truly do this is impossible. They may get over some of the soreness experienced after the first few days, but it is not enough to prevent injury. The physical demands of football, especially contact, are greater than in other sports and if the player is not already in good physical condition prior to the season, it is impossible to get him in top shape during the season. Thus, they will always be playing at a sub-par level and be more prone to injury.
Because many players are in poor physical condition, strength coaches try to get them strong and physically ready in the late preseason and during the season by undergoing heavy weight training programs. But it is impossible to produce an effective product or to significantly improve strength and other physical abilities as they relate to skill execution in such a short period of time.
Programs to develop greater strength in-season often lead to a greater number of injuries because the heavy weight training interferes with skill execution on the field. In other words, the newfound strength interferes with their technique of execution of the skills. Understand that the leading cause of injury is poor technique or neuro-muscular coordination. The problem is compounded when technique is not yet solidified because of additional strength. Additional training must be done to couple technique with increases in strength, etc.
Injuries have a neuromuscular basis and is founded in a combination of nervous system firing and strength and other physical qualities related to the execution of specific skills on the field. For example, many players get injured while running and executing changes of direction, two of the more common skills that many players, especially those in the backfield, must continually execute.
When physical contact is added to improper technique, or when the player is in a poor position because of how he executes a movement, the chance of injury is increased. A common example is when a player gets hit while executing an improper cut which places their leg or body in a vulnerable position. If the player had better technique of executing the cutting or running action, the chances of injury when hit would be much less.
When players have ample strength, speed, quickness and explosive power developed prior to the season, the main concern in season should be maintenance. Because most teams do not use effective restorative methods after playing a game, it usually takes 2-3 days before the athlete recovers sufficiently for any type of worthwhile training. This leaves very little time to develop any new physical qualities prior to preparation for the next game. Thus, the concept of physically preparing the players while in season is erroneous. It is physiologically impossible, especially if you also want top performers during the season.
If owners would make early preseason training part of the contract to ensure that the athlete is in good physical condition or else be fined or not paid, the number of injuries would be less. Players would then be forced to get themselves ready to play. They would not, as they do now, play in the hopes of getting ready to play more. We would then see better performances in the field. However it must also be said that some teams are now requiring greater conditioning prior to the season especially because of the mini camps throughout the year. Because of this we can read of many players hiring personal trainers to keep them in shape.
For more information on training concepts that are suited for football, see Build a Better Athlete and Sports: Is It All B.S.? by Dr. Michael Yessis.