With summer just around the corner it’s time to think about injury prevention when playing summer sports.
Hey, you don’t want to spend half of the summer on the bench nurturing your injuries, do you?
Dry and hot weather conditions during the summer season place different kinds of stress on the body.
The first thing that comes to mind is the choice of footwear when playing sports that involve running. Examples include soccer, touch rugby, rugby league and rugby union.
Let me explain…
Almost everyone knows that New Zealand winters are very wet. And due to this fact most athletes that play various codes of football wear boots with long cleats during the winter season.
This helps to improve traction and grip between the sole of the shoe and the ground. So it stops the athlete from from sliding, skidding and losing control of the movement when the ground is saturated with water.
Now, in the summer when the ground is very dry this situation changes completely. Unfortunately many athletes don’t bother to get a different pair of football boots specifically for summer conditions.
The reason why this is important is that using footwear with long cleats during the dry months places you at high risk of ankle and knee injuries.
There is an abundance of research that proves that wearing boots with long cleats increases grip between the foot and the ground while running. This puts you in harms way.
And this is why…
You see, when you are running and suddenly have to change direction the sole of your foot may become stuck due to very minimal amount of give between the grounds and the sole of your foot. And this often results in knee ligament injuries as well as severe ankle sprains.
If your body suddenly changes direction but your foot is stuck and cannot adjust it’s position in time this often results in wrenching of either your knee or ankle joints.
Quite a few of the knee injuries we see in our physiotherapy clinic such as medial collateral ligament sprains, anterior cruciate ligament tears and bad ankle sprains are caused by this mechanism. Essentially not choosing the right football boots may result in these types of injuries.
The good news is that this is totally and easily preventable. All you have to do is invest in a different pair of sports shoes that will be more suitable for summer conditions. You will save yourself a lot of stress and headache further down the track… And possibly weeks or months spending injured off the playing field.
If you need further clarification or advice on the choice of sports footwear give us a call at Growing Younger Physiotherapy clinics either in Howick or Pakuranga, Auckland.
We offer FREE foot and ankle assessments especially if you have had some injuries in the past or are currently suffering from foot, ankle or knee problems. Just fill in the form on the right-hand side to secure your FREE foot and ankle assessment in Howick or Pakuranga.