Joseph Lee
Posts: 58 |
Since Jason (Hee) had mentioned about warming-up before our weekly training, I shall take the liberty to highlight this proper, especially after we have seen many freak accidents lately.
Besides the usual static warm-ups we do prior like stretching our major muscle groups, eg. quadriceps(thigh), hamstring, calf, ankle, glutes, we should also try to include some agility drills in our own routine.
For those (ahem) younger players, they of course may feel unncessary. But for (ahem) me...would most probably need to spend more time on warming up proper (minimum 10-15min).
Also, it will do anyone of us good if we include some agility training as part of our own personal physical conditioning besides jogging or swimming.
Depending on my schedule (ahem...laziness), I usually spend 30-45 mins once-a-week (alternating with jogging) on some exercises that I picked up from my physiotherapist - which i had to undergo physiotherapy diligently for half a year.
Those drills are targeted to condition a person's agility in all-direction, ie. unidirectional and/or change of direction. Due to the fact that in Football, we consistently require to change direction sharply and then take off instantaneously, we may hurt ourselves if we are not 'match fit'. Jogging or swimming is different from sprinting regimes.
Gordon's case is a classic example where we may not be ready for the hard fast pace at times. Speaking from experience of my own body, even with regular conditioning, sometimes my muscles just don't feel quite right prior to the game. That's when you have to listen to your own body, stretch out slowly but take a longer time than usual to avoid pulling a muscle. Muscle rub or cream to help your muscles warm up is a good idea. Once, someone thought i brought toothpaste to our sunday training! LOL
Some of us are more prone to sprain our ankles more easily beacuse of the shifting of body weight. When we turn/change direction or dribbling, we have to shift our body weight from one foot to another, and this causes alot of stress on various ligaments & tendons in our ankles' complex structure. Injuries will hit us if we are not doing this properly, plus poor muscle conditioning and other factors such as hard ground, uneven surface, poor boot fitting, etc.
So, feel free to ask, if anyone wishes to know about the agility exercises - which will help ease injury problems or at least improve your change of pace & direction.
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Good luck & enjoy The Beautiful Game
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