New Zealand Football Performance & Prevention

Female-specific tips

Historically, many assumptions have been made that female players should prepare and perform the same as their male counterparts. This is incorrect!
Within our female specific section, we unravel and delve into topics that are specific to the female player and how you can best support your child’s enjoyment and longevity within the game.

Did You Know – Females have an increase in iron requirements compared to their male counterparts. Low iron can result in fatigue, a decline in immunity and reduced resistance to illnesses.

Tamariki-specific tips

To enhance the quality of our tamariki’s experience (aged 4-12 years), we need to embrace their passion for the game, improve their fundamental movements and playing skills; all while placing a priority on having fun.
With today’s world of technology, we’re seeing more time spent on screens and less time running, hopping, skipping, jumping, climbing, or balancing.

Find out how you as a parent can improve the fundamental movements of your child with some fun games:

To ensure your child enjoys their footballing experience and to help you provide them with the opportunity to learn, thrive, and develop, keeping them on the field, we focus on 2 fundamental areas that severely reduce the risk of injury that will keep them involved in sport for life.

Focus on technique! Make sure your landings are good, as well as proper alignment of the hips, ankles, and knees. The better the technique, the better and more efficient you move.
Don’t start shooting at goal when you arrive! Your body is not physically ready for powerful and explosive movements such as shooting or long passing.
If you’re a substitute on match day, ensure you have a warmup routine. If you want to make an impact on the game, you too need to be physically prepared.

What is Strength & Conditioning (S&C)?

Strength and conditioning is the practical application to enhance quality movement. However, we need to make this specific to the game of football and futsal to meet the demands of the game.

If we focus on movement quality and components relative to the game, we’ll improve performance with a specific focus on speed, strength, and stamina. This also helps prevent injury, keeping you in the game for longer.

Let’s look at what S&C looks like in football and why it’s important:

Second, once you’ve identified your area(s) of need, look to introduce some ‘add ons’ to your training sessions or perform them at home.

A few specific drills and exercises added to a training session will make a huge impact ensuring you progress with results without adding extra sessions to your schedule, which will ultimately enhance your performance.

Check out these simple yet effective drills that can added to training that will enhance your physical ability specific to football.

Although Stamina is an important aspect of football, many of our players are getting enough stamina training by turning up to sessions and matches.

There may be a need to top up those players who are not playing every week, but this should be a small minority.

If you or your players are struggling with stamina, tiredness, or are lacking the ability to last a full game, you need to have a conversation with your coach/player. There are several reasons why a player maybe feeling tired with one of those aspects being overtraining/overload. Click here to find out more on managing load.

Always ensure correct technique! Focus on alignment of the hips, knees, and ankles.
Compliance and consistency are key. You should be performing strength and conditioning exercises 2 x week (minimum).
Don’t go too hard too early and don’t compare your progress with others. You’ll receive better and faster results with great technique over going heavy or progressing to more advanced exercises too early.

The physical demands of our game, plus the social demands of life, schooling, social environment and any emotional strains, all interconnect and impact upon a player’s overall load and general wellbeing.

So how do we monitor and manage a player’s load?

Monitoring players is essential to define the relationship between the amount of stress that’s been placed on the body, and the risk of injury.

Some simple examples could include:

Tracking training and playing minutes.
Measuring RPE at each session/match (Rate of perceived exertion)
Recognising when school exams and work deadlines are coming up and comparing RPE at this time.
Sleep (quality and duration).
Tracking a daily mood score (amazing, good, meh, bad, awful).

Signs and symptoms of overtraining/overload:

Persistent injuries and niggles
Fatigue and tiredness
Reduced appetite and weight loss
Irritability and agitation
Decline in performance
Sessions and workouts constantly feel challenging
Disturbed sleep
Decreased immunity or illness
Loss of motivation

By tracking and keeping a log of these internal and external stressors, we can see how the player responds over time which allows us to adjust accordingly. As a coach, if you observe players are starting to feedback in your measures, or simply comment to you they’re starting to struggle, it is important you adapt.

The ability to make informed decisions based on how a player feels, as well as plan how you are going to navigate periods of challenge ahead of time, is one of the most effective ways to reduce injury.

It’s important we recognise that conversations around modifying training and the like can be difficult for players. One of the most effective ways you can create a dialogue with players, so they feel comfortable talking to you, is by starting it yourself. Reaching out to players, asking them about what they’ve got coming up at school, uni, work etc and letting them know what training looks like in the coming weeks can be invaluable.

See how the most common and debilitating injuries in football impact our game and what you can do to help your players return to play more effectively.

Description

As football is a lower-extremity sport, the most common injury site in a football player is the ankle. The ankle is one common area that can sustain injury if we do not prioritise our preparation and recovery. Inadequate warm up preparation, inadequate training, fatigue (both acute and chronic), and poor recovery from previous injury are all factors that can contribute to injury that we can influence.

The most common type of ankle injury is a sprain, while more severe injuries such as fractures, ligament tears and cartilage damage can also occur. Striking a ball, changing direction, and landing while receiving body contact, are all common ways in which someone might injure their ankle.

Initial Steps

You can treat a minor ankle injury at home by following the P.O.L.I.C.E method.

For the first few days after your injury, Protect the injured area, ensure you provide Optimal Loading, Ice it, Compress it, and Elevate it.

If you suspect your injury is severe or if swelling and bruising persists, make an appointment with your doctor, physiotherapist, or go to the emergency department. The following symptoms may be a sign of a severe injury that requires professional care:

severe swelling and pain
visible deformities, such as large lumps or limbs bent at strange angles
popping or crunching sounds when you move the injured area
inability to support any weight with the injured area
instability in a joint
trouble breathing
dizziness
fever

You should also contact a medical professional if you have an injury that seems minor but doesn’t improve with home treatment.

Ankle Injury Prevention

Your first line of defence against ankle injury is an effective warm up. The gradual progression in intensity as well as exposure to wide variety of movements within a warmup gives your body the opportunity to perform movements in a controlled manner. Therefore, when we compete in football, which is more chaotic in nature, and we are reactive to opposition and the game, our body is prepared.

Further, proprioception exercises should be included in our warmup and can be done outside of the warmup to further reduce the risk of injury. Anything where we are jumping and landing, balancing on one leg, or challenging our single leg stability strengthens all the musculature in the lower leg as well as those which provide security to our ankle.

Description

ACL - The anterior cruciate ligament helps to provide stability during movements of rapid changes of direction, pivoting, and landing. An injury to the ACL is most commonly non-contact (e.g., change in direction), although some ACL injuries can occur from contact (e.g., blow to the knee). A “pop” or “snap” sound is sometimes heard, but not always. Often, a player will experience pain and swelling to the area and will not be able to continue play.

Injuries to this ligament may result in the knee feeling loose or unstable. Surgical reconstruction followed by extensive rehabilitation is the traditional treatment. However, there is still the non-surgical option to treat the injury with rehabilitation, allowing other structures (muscular control and balance) to take over the job of the ACL.

Initial Steps

Players should consult with a physician or sport physician to determine the severity of the knee injury. An MRI and other tests may be used to help diagnose the injury.
Initially, the goal is to reduce swelling and control pain. Pain relief, such as anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), may be needed, in addition to ice.
Players will undergo pre-operative exercises to prepare the knee and surrounding muscles for rehabilitation following surgery.
Players who undergo non-operative treatment may work with a sport physician or physiotherapist and follow a rehabilitation protocol.
Ongoing care and rehabilitation should be led and guided by your sport physician or physiotherapist before returning to training.

Statistics

Description

The “hamstrings” are a group of muscle located down the back of your thigh. They’re a major muscle group involved in multiple football actions; primarily - sprinting and running, jumping, and striking the ball. Not only are they involved in these key footballing movements, but they are major players, and their strength is essential in order to execute these actions well.

The most common cause of hamstring injury is when the muscle extends quickly or beyond its end range, resulting in damage to the muscle fibres of the hamstrings (often a tear.) Common examples when you may see a hamstring injury occur could be; during sprinting (as the athlete extends their leg out and forward), lunging for the ball (again, extending the leg out quickly), or when striking the ball (as the leg moves into end range at the end of the strike.) Often, we see this happen near the later stages of a game when muscles are fatigued or sometimes near the start/restart due to insufficient warming up of the hamstrings.

Initial Steps

You can treat a minor hamstring injury at home by following the P.O.L.I.C.E method.

For the first few days after your injury, Protect the injured area, ensure you provide Optimal Loading, Ice it, Compress it, and Elevate it.

If you suspect your injury is severe or if swelling and bruising persists, make an appointment with your doctor, physiotherapist, or go to the emergency department. The following symptoms may be a sign of a severe injury that requires professional care:

severe swelling and pain
visible deformities, such as large lumps
popping or crunching sounds when you move the injured area
inability to support any weight with the injured area
instability in a joint
trouble breathing
dizziness
fever

You should also contact a medical professional if you have an injury that seems minor but doesn’t improve with home treatment.

Hamstring Injury Prevention

We need to always ensure our body is ready to complete the physical demands of the game before we train or play. That is, we need to warm up! An effective warm up gradually increases in intensity and prepares the body for the movements it is about to complete. Our ‘Gold standard’ 11+ warmup is a scientifically validated example of a warmup that is effective in both preparation and injury prevention.

In addition to this, hamstring injury prevention should focus on ‘getting strong through extension’ as this is the common cause of injury as described above. We want to make sure that we can extend our hamstrings (sprint, jump, strike the ball) for the full 90 minutes with strength and quality. This will ensure that not only do we stay healthy and on the pitch, but key footballing actions will be performed with high quality.

The most common example of a hamstring strengthening exercise that works your muscles through full range is the Nordic Hamstring Curl. As you slowly lower, your hamstrings work to slow your fall. As you get lower to the ground, more and more fibres along the hamstrings are recruited to control this fall. Working to get stronger and fall further, or, working on the number of repetitions you can successfully fall all the way will help prepare your hamstrings for trainings and games!

Other exercises you can perform to minimise the risk of hamstring injury:

Description

A concussion (also known as mTBI – mild traumatic brain injury) is a brain injury induced by biomechanical forces. It may be caused by a direct blow to the head, face, neck, or elsewhere on the body with an ‘impulsive’ force transmitted to the head.

A player does not need to be knocked out (unconscious) to have sustained a concussion. A concussion typically results in the rapid onset of short-lived impairment of neurological function that resolves spontaneously.

Symptoms can include the following:

Recognise
Identify if a player has a concussion by assessing their signs and symptoms. Some indicators include:

Loss of consciousness or responsiveness
Confused, unable to answer basic questions
Lying motionless on the ground/slow to get up
A dazed, blank or vacant expression
Appearing unsteady on feet, balance problems or falling over
Grabbing or clutching of the head
Impact seizure or convulsion

Remove from play
A player should be removed from play immediately if a concussion is suspected. A player should never return to play on the day of a concussive injury.

Refer for medical assessment
Any player who is suspected of having sustained a concussion should have an assessment from a medical doctor. Only a medical doctor can diagnose a concussion.

Rest and recovery
The majority (80-90%) of concussions resolve in a short (7-10 day) period. Some players will have more long-lasting symptoms. Players diagnosed with a concussion need to rest and adhere to all guidelines provided by their medical doctor.

Statistics

An estimated 35,000 head injuries occur in NZ per year
21% of all head injuries in NZ are sustained through sport.
There is an estimated 1000+ related concussion injuries that go untreated.
11% of sports related concussion claimants had multiple concussions within a 2-year period.
Evidence shows that with repeat concussion, people may experience a decline in general health and quality of life up to 10 years following injury.

Concussion Prevention

Following the laws of the game will help keep players safe from most injury types. Avoid gameplay that puts you and others at risk.
Physical conditioning (such as completing strength & conditioning exercises) will prepare your body for the physical demands of the game and increasing resilience to impact on the field.
Players that return too early to training and competition after a concussion are more susceptible to sustaining another concussion. Follow the return to play guidelines and work with a medical professional to avoid returning to play too soon.
Headgear – The use of headgear has not been shown to reduce the incidence of concussion. However, this piece of equipment can reduce soft tissue injuries to the head.
Research suggests neck strength is thought to prevent concussions. Players with weaker necks are more likely to experience greater head impacts while players with stronger necks can withstand the velocity of a head impact diffusing the hit through the neck muscles. Speak to your physician or physiotherapist for some neck strength exercises.

Warming up is essential to reduce the risk of injury, enhance performance and improve fundamental movements. Ensure 13+ years complete the gold standard 11+ warmup and ages 4-12 complete the 11+ Kids warmup.
Ensure your child is having a minimum of one full day’s rest per week. This allows for physical and mental recovery.
Aim for 8-9 hours of quality sleep each night. Having adequate sleep assists in performance and recovery.
Encourage other sports. Sporting diversification has been found to improve overall sport performance and decrease the risk of injury.
Ensure your child has the appropriate gear for the surface they’re playing on.

Remember the R.I.C.E.D principle and if an injury is more serious, seek medical advice. No player should play while in pain or carrying an injury.
Have a snack ready for your child to consume immediately after training or a game (within 5-10 minutes). This will immediately kick start the recovery process.
Understand what ‘load’ is and make the conscious decision to help your child understand what it is.
Always remember: These are kids, this is a ‘game’, the coaches are volunteers, the referees are human, it’s not the world cup final.