Football - (English football, from foot - leg and ball - ball), a sports team game in which athletes, using individual dribbling and passing the ball to partners with their feet or any other part of the body except their hands, try to score the greatest amount of it into the opponent’s goal once at the specified time.
Football is the most common and popular game in most countries of the world.
The study involved 1,018 players from a professional club in Florence. The study was conducted from August 1980 to June 1991.
Results. The total number of injuries over the 11-year period was 207 (20%). Most injuries were noted at the age of 17-19 years (juniors). Midfielders and forwards were more often injured - 22%, defenders - 19%, goalkeepers - 16%. Type and location of damage. Having conducted research in 1983, Ekstrand et al. obtained data on the number of injuries of different locations, presented in table. 1.
II - average - more than 1 week, but less than 1 month;
III - significant - more than 1 month.
An assessment was made of various injury mechanisms (running, falling, hitting the goal, interceptions, blocking) in players of various roles (goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, forwards). The primary mechanism was contact injury (79 injuries, 38%). Goalkeepers were injured by contact 50% of the time, and defenders 42% of the time. For midfielders and forwards, injuries most often occurred while running, falling and hitting the ball, more often during official matches (64% of all injuries) than during training sessions (51%).
In the upper extremities, injury was typically due to a fall to the ground (72%), whereas in the lower extremities, contact injuries were the main source of fractures and sprains, especially at the knee. In 37% of cases, knee sprains occurred without contact.
Knee injuries included 47% anterior cruciate ligament injuries; 28% - medial
Antonym: lateral edge. .
Antonym: medial edge. .
The mechanism of muscle stretching depends on the location. Thus, strains of the anterior rectus muscle usually occur when hitting the ball (86%), while damage to the hamstrings or calf muscles occurs during acceleration (91%). Most ankle injuries occur as a result of supination
Research conducted at the Mid-America Sports Medicine Center found that the majority of “non-impact” ACL knee injuries involved three components of technique causing the injury (swinging, landing, and stopping).
A dangerous technique includes a maneuver called “Sharp stop and turn.” It is a maneuver involving a sudden reduction in speed on a straight or almost straight leg in order to change direction in one step. This maneuver is often used to get away from a defender and quickly change direction. For example, the attacker attempts to turn to the right. As he approaches the defender, the attacker sharply reduces his speed, “braking” with his outside (left) leg, the knee of which is almost straight (angle less than 30°) and turns to the inside (right) leg. As the player decelerates in one step while turning with the knee almost straight, the quadriceps muscle contracts eccentrically with force, causing a quadriceps-cruciate ligament interaction.
Due to the risk of injury, the “sharp stop and turn” technique was proposed to be modified into an “accelerated and smoother turn.” The turn, as a rule, begins on the inside leg (the leg facing the direction of the turn), and continues during the acceleration process on the outside leg. The attacker approaches the defender at a speed equal to 1/2-3/4 normal speed. When there are about 2 m left to the defender, the attacker takes a preparatory step on the inside foot, “rounding” the turn, and accelerates (trying not to slow down). Powerful arm movements combined with moderate stride lengths promote acceleration. As an athlete accelerates during a turn, the magnitude of the force between the quadriceps and the cruciate ligament decreases.
A straight leg landing is the result of an athlete landing after a jump when his legs are too straight or he does not have time to bend his knees during landing, which causes interaction of the quadriceps muscle - cruciate ligament.
Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament can occur as a result of taking off directly from a “running” step (without performing a “preparatory” step). The knee is more straightened and the transformation of horizontal momentum into vertical momentum occurs as a result of reducing speed and pushing off in one step. Eccentric contraction of the quadriceps muscle immediately places greater stress on the anterior cruciate ligament due to the quadriceps-cruciate ligament interaction.
It is proposed to replace landing on a straight leg by landing on a leg bent at the knee joint. Athletes must land with their knees bent and continue to bend as they land, and take at least one step in the same direction before stopping or turning. The athlete reduces the degree of interaction between the quadriceps muscle and the cruciate ligament by continuing to bend the legs at the knee joints during the landing process and performing a vertical push-off for two full steps. It is very important that in such a situation the athlete does not forget the following. When a player tries to go from a horizontal or vertical deceleration to a vertical acceleration in one step, he often fails to recover from the deceleration. This, according to experts, leads to an extremely dangerous interaction between the quadriceps muscle and the cruciate ligament.
It is proposed to modify the one-step stop into a three-step stop, when the athlete needs to stop or change the direction of movement. For example, a football player is in a situation that requires a sharp deceleration in order to carry out defensive actions against an attacker. A modified technique allows the player to reduce the amount of forward momentum by lowering the center of gravity and bending the knees while decelerating for at least three steps. As the athlete lowers their center of gravity by bending their knees, the interaction between the quadriceps and the cruciate ligament causes less stress on the anterior cruciate ligament. The player finds himself in a stable position and ready for any change in direction of movement. Slowing down gradually over three steps rather than one also reduces the amount of energy expended in each step.
Another technique that can be used to change direction is a blocking turn. It is used when the athlete performs a preparatory step by rotating on the same leg and landing on all fours in the starting position of a sprinter on a treadmill. The athlete then pushes off like a sprinter. This technique allows you to effectively and safely change direction by more than 180° and significantly faster than a three-step stop.
Many soccer injuries are a result of running and changing direction. It's no surprise that most ACL injuries occur during defensive play. The defender is characterized by a high degree of risk due to the sudden change in direction of movement by the attacker. The attacker has an advantage because he controls the ball and forces the defender to react to his actions. When reacting to the attacker, the defender uses the wrong technique. The defender must always be in a position with his knees bent.
It is typical for a defender to attempt a one-step stop. It is not uncommon for a defender to approach an attacker at full speed, try to stop with one step, and usually change direction. Instead, slow down three steps. Another dangerous situation in football is when the attacker suddenly stops on his straight leg and shoots at the goal. Here you should use a three-step stopping technique, and also practice the correct landing technique (on bent legs) after performing a head strike (see Table 2)
Workout adjustments, warm-ups and stretching techniques
The muscle stiffness observed in football players appears to be related to training patterns. The study found that the duration of the warm-up is adequate, in contrast to its content. Since about 90% of injuries in football involve the lower extremities, warm-up before and after a training session should include stretching exercises for the leg muscles (adductors, hamstrings, tendons, quadriceps, iliopsoas and triceps surae).
Ekstrand et al. (1983) created a special pre-warm-up program, including contraction-relaxation muscle stretching, as well as a post-warm-up program. Möller et al found that this program provided a 5% to 20% increase in range of motion. Players identified as having muscle tightness during preseason testing should be advised to perform individual stretching exercises. Shooting on goal should be avoided before warming up as there is an increased risk of muscle strain.
Ekstrand et al also found a relationship between the number of injuries and training volume: for players on teams with below-average training volume, the number of injuries increased with increasing training volume. At the same time, among players on teams with above-average training volumes, the number of injuries decreased as training volume increased, which appears to indicate that well-prepared athletes are less likely to be injured. Another important factor is the ratio of the number of training sessions to the number of games.
Ankle taping
Prophylactic ankle taping is one of the most common ways to prevent ankle sprains. Taping increases ankle stability by supporting the ligaments and limiting range of motion such as supination. In addition to bandaging, it is proposed to use special functional semi-rigid devices that fix the ankle joint, which are quite effective in terms of limiting supination of the joint and reducing the risk of sprains.
Ankle training using a special disc
The most common residual effect after an ankle sprain is functional instability. Tropp (1985) found that impaired postural control and weakness of the pronator muscles correlated with functional instability. The likelihood of re-injury (strain) of the ankle joint in football players with functional instability is higher. Coordination training on a special disc can improve postural control and eliminate pronator weakness.
The athlete stands on one straightened leg, bending the other at the knee joint. Arms crossed on chest. The recommended training duration is 5 minutes for each leg, 5 times/week for 10 weeks. This method significantly reduces functional instability. In addition, it prevents the possibility of recurrent sprains.
Equipment and playing surface
Optimal equipment plays an important role in preventing injury. Thus, shin guards prevent damage to the tibia. Choosing the right boots is important. When there is a high degree of friction between the shoe and the playing surface, significant forces can be applied to the knee and ankle joints; when there is very low friction, the likelihood of a player slipping increases, which can lead to injury. The likelihood of damage also has a lot to do with the characteristics of the playing surface. Thus, in particular on “hard” fields, the likelihood of player injury is higher.
All balls are divided into four types: professional, match, training and special. Each type is designed for specific conditions and players of a certain skill level. The same ball will not be suitable for playing on asphalt, gravel, grass or artificial turf.
Professional and match balls are only played in grass stadiums. They have a special coating: durable, waterproof. On asphalt, concrete and any hard surface, such a coating quickly peels off and the ball loses its properties. What is noteworthy is that the world's leading companies do not develop a special coating for balls for playing on asphalt. Because any coating on asphalt wears out quickly. Just as there are no special coatings being developed for playing in severe frosts (from -15°C and below). It's a shame, because in Russia both types of such conditions when playing football are very popular.
The training balls have a rubber laminated coating that repels water and dirt. These are cheap balls and are best suited for schoolchildren. They withstand a large number of impacts very well.
Soccer ball material
Traditionally, when most buyers come to the store, they pay attention to leather balls, often not knowing about all the pros and cons of this material. But today, many soccer ball manufacturers have abandoned the use of leather as lining in favor of synthetics. All modern ball models, such as Select, Adidas and Nike, are made of leatherette. Synthetics are superior to leather in the following respects:
The material of cheap models is polyvinyl chloride. The number of layers is from three to four. Polyurethane is used in the production of expensive balls. And the most expensive ones are made from a variation of Cordlay polyurethane - 2000. This is a Japanese development. When creating a ball, interlayers and spacers are used between the layers.
Soccer ball cut
There are three traditional cuts in total. We are very familiar with 32 - a panel ball (they are sewn from panels shaped like regular hexagons). There are options: 18 - panel and 26 - panel. 26-panel soccer balls are often confused with volleyballs. They are really similar in appearance, but they are great balls for kicking. And in Europe, unlike Russia, they often play with these balls.
You can distinguish a good ball from a bad one by the following characteristics.
Correct use of a soccer ball
The chamber pressure should be between 0.7 and 1.00 atmospheres. Training balls inflate from 0.6 to 0.7 atmospheres. And after the game, you need to slightly deflate the ball to relieve tension on the seams and panels. They need to get back into shape. With constant maximum pumping of the ball, they lose elasticity, stretch, and the ball wears out faster.
The main difference between boots and other types of sports shoes are the spikes on the sole. The most popular models of boots have 6 and 12-13 studs. The former are used for playing on soft grass fields, the latter - on harder ones. The classic shape of the studs is round, but life does not stand still, so modern boots are equipped with triangular studs and ones that are shaped like knife blades or the fangs of a predator. There are models that combine different types of studs so that the player can achieve the best speed, maneuverability, and reliable grip on the field surface. The latest trend in football fashion is boots with 13 removable studs. Thanks to the ability to adjust their number, the athlete can “tune” the shoes to a specific surface immediately before the game. Note that goalkeepers only play in 6-stud boots, with the studs screwed to 18mm, which is the maximum length allowed by FIFA.
For playing on artificial grass fields, special boots were developed - TURF, which have many small, low spikes on the sole. The same shoes are well suited for gravel fields, where most of our backyard teams play, and for playing football in the snow - a purely Russian extreme sport.
Another type of football shoe is indoor boots. They do not have spikes, but the sole is equipped with a relief, which provides the football player with comfort when playing on a flat, hard artificial surface.
The best material for making boots of any type is kangaroo leather. It is elastic, fits well on the leg and does not get wet. High-quality sports shoes are made from a single piece of leather and weigh no more than 200 g. Recently, so-called “Japanese leather” has become popular among global manufacturers. This is an artificial material, similar in its properties to natural leather, but more durable and resistant to deformation.
The design of the boots has also undergone significant changes. The lacing moved from the center to the side (to the outside of the foot) and became hidden. The lace knot is covered with a long tongue. This design is designed to reduce injuries during collisions between football players. There are 2 shock absorbers built into the toe and heel parts of the sole: the first enhances the rebound, the second reduces negative vibrations. In the newest models, the sole is also equipped with an instep support - a curved plate that evenly distributes the load along the foot. Anatomical insoles with antibacterial impregnation significantly increase the athlete's comfort. The special coating on the upper part of the boot optimizes sensitivity and control over the ball, especially when performing various backspins.
Sports shoes should not be too loose, much less too big. If the boots are made of genuine leather, then after 3-4 games the material will stretch and the boot will become looser. These shoes need to be bought end-to-end. Roberto Carlos, taking into account this feature of leather models, purchases boots that are 2 sizes smaller. At the same time, shoes made of synthetic materials must be selected precisely according to the foot, without expecting that they will wear out.