How to reduce football injuries
With Darby Lewis APF-CPT
9 letter letterman
Capital High School
Boise, Idaho
Many football injuries can be avoided. This interview with Darby Lewis will first discuss the most common football injuries followed with information about how to avoid them.
ST: Darby what are the most common football injuries?
DL: The most common injuries seen by doctors and emergency rooms are fractures and concussions. The most common injury I see is knee injuries, meniscus tears a little bit of aclÂ’s for soccer for women I see more acl tears and with adolescent teens from 5 to 14.
It all varies on the sport and what injuries they incur, like baseball it is mostly arm injuries.
The most common injuries I see are strains and sprains, quad and hamstring pulls.
ST: What are things athletes can do to prevent injuries?
DL: They have done some studies, Dr. Stockman from Yale University says its not a big field they havenÂ’t researched yet. They ask how did it happen? What sport were you playing? 75% of the time injuries come from competition or practice. 80 % of the kids football injuries occur during the game, the remaining 20% during practice.
80 % of the injuries that happen in football are new injuries that happen during the game. Unlike track where many of the injuries are reoccurring injuries, such as pulled hamstrings. There the injury wonÂ’t heal till the kid lays off track for awhile letting the hamstring heal.
With football the injuries are new , sprains, fractures and concussions. Changing the rules in football has reduced some of the injuries. CanÂ’t lead with the head, changing tackling rules, standardized helmets. In high school now all helmets are the same, that combined with the rule changes has reduced football injuries.
ST: With summer approaching what kind of off season training should athletes do to be ready for fall sports?
DL: It depends on what sort of sports they want to do. If I am a basket ball, player track player , womenÂ’s softball or soccer. The National Strength and Conditioning Association have research saying if they condition if they are properly trained, proper weight training, skilled in techniques , proper coaching techniques because there are walk on coaches that donÂ’t know how to teach skill, they know the game, they know the game inside out, but they donÂ’t know how to teach skill, they donÂ’t know how to teach proper stance, they donÂ’t know how to teach proper running technique, proper tackling technique in football, proper batting technique in softball, throwing technique and that leads to injury, improper technique.
I can condition you get you strong get the muscles working for endurance and coordination and flexible, then a coach goes out there and teaches you to throw the ball wrong, and your going against your body mechanics eventually your going to break down that muscle group, and your going to get injured.
SC: If I were a young kid playing football what would you recommend I do this summer so that I am ready for fall camp and ready for fall football?
DL: The main thing is to stay in some kind of shape.
ST: Explain what you mean by shape
DL: You need cardiovascular shape, for football it is not more or less endurance like I am going to go out and run 5 miles a day. Football is a different sport, it is an explosive sprint sport, you have to learn to train the fast twitch muscles which are type two muscles which are explosive muscles.
That means a good training program where they are lifting weights at least 3 times a week. Also doing some kind of agility skill training the other two days. Working out five days a week. Building up some kind of purzation.
What I ask people is when is your first practice? Then I have them count backwards from the first day of practice to the last day of school, planning their program from the day they get out of school to the day they report to camp. Advising them they want to peak the day they report to camp.
ST: For two days a week you are talking speed agility and explosive muscles, would that include wind sprints?
DL: Yes wind sprints is one technique you can use, it depends on the intensity of the sprint. It all comes down to the percentage of energy used. If you run a 100 yard dash full out, it is the same as a one max rep of bench press with the weights. You are trying to bench press your one max rep. If you go out and run a hundred yard dash the recovery rate has to be the same as the one max rep. So if you go out and run ten 100 yard dashes the recovery rate is going to be a lot longer.
Many people go out and run sprints every day, and that is going to tear them down a lot longer, to the point they are over training and wonÂ’t be able to reach the goals they want to be able to do when they reach camp.
This will make it harder to make the goals the coaches have for the players when they reach camp. Because the coaches have goals to try to get the players ready for the first game.
ST: This spring should an athlete go to the coaches and ask for a suggested summer work out program?
DL: Most of the schools now have an in house training program. They do it now right after school. Some schools start working out a week after the season is over. If the coach knows what he is doing he can purization that out, the coach will be able to give the kid some kind of outline, to keep them some what conditioned to report to fall camp.
Realistically kids are in highs school, kids are going camping, some have to work. So the training doesnÂ’t have to be 6 hrs a day, it can be an hour and a half pr day, they can be fine with that amount of time.
What I tell kids, is it all depends on the intensity of the training they are doing. Are they going to go out the first day of their training session are they going to do 80 to 90 % of what they are going to do? That is not how they want to approach training. They want to start slow doing 60 to 65 % of their intensity work out. So if they are doing a 100 yard dash they want to run it at 60 to 65 % of their ability. If they can run a 100 yard dash flat out in 11 seconds then they want to start out running it say in 14 seconds. So they are running at 60 to 65 % of their maximum speed. Progressively increasing the intensity of the work out, peaking just before camp.
What they donÂ’t want to do, is start out hard and furious, its done through progression timed to peak when they reach fall camp.
Here at my facility, is the way we train the kids, running, weight training, flexibility exercises, all in progression, with a specific goal in mind. A lot of kids come in here that have great athletic ability, they can do all the running, flexibility exercises, and weight lifting but they need the right attitude.
What it comes down to is mental preparation, mental preparation is a lot of the battle. There are times when they are fatigued , they wont want to come in here and work out, they wont want to go out and run. They wont want to go out and do the football drills they are doing after school, or in the summer time.
I tell kids, you just have to think back , how important is it to you what is your priority? If it is in perspective to what you want out of your program, you are going to get of it what you put into it.Mental preperation is an important part of their training program.
If they want to move up to the next level, they are going to have to put some effort into it.
ST: If kids put in a regimented training and conditioning program it will reduce the risk of injury
DL: Statistics show that it does reduce the injury rate, there has not been a comprehensive study on it but a conditioned athlete that has been physically fit all summer and conditioned has less chance of being injured than the athlete that didnÂ’t train and condition themselves.
It comes down to work ethic.
ST: How important is learning the fundamentals?
DL: Yes learning the fundamentals of your position is very important. You can do the weight room, you can do the weights and do the squats, but if the trainer doesnÂ’t know how teach the proper squat technique then it adds to the trouble. It is as important to learn the proper techniques in the weight room as it is to learn the proper techniques for the position they play.
Another thing we have found, is kids coming from junior high that have followed a disciplined program, learned the fundamentals of their position but were never starters catch up to the more talented athletes that never worked out or followed a disciplined off season training and conditioning program.
When I was recruiting I looked for the guy with the solid work ethic and more and more coaches are doing the same.
ST: So what you are saying to reduce the risk for injury, have a solid work ethic, learn the basics and fundamentals of your position.
DL: Once they have learned the basics and fundamentals they add those skills to the weight room for a sports specific weight training program, that will improve their ability on the field.
So if I am a line backer and I have to use this stance or that down position requiring this skill or movement, I want to do exercises that will improve that ability. It is called sports related activity weight training. Mental preparation, conditioning , learning the basics and fundamentals of your position along with sports related specific weight training can help reduce and cut down football injuries.
Darby Lewis is a APF and CPT was an All American in both football and wrestling, 3 time state champion in both wrestling and track. A 9 letter letterman from Capital High School located in Boise, Idaho.
Mr. Lewis is the owner of Athletic Performance Fitness
208- 377-8051
11880 W. President Drive
Boise, Idaho
Email Address:
DDLewis@cableone.net
