Sprains and strains, often around the knee and ankle, are very common in soccer. Player collisions — either full body or kick collisions — can cause a wide range of injuries, including cuts, bruises, and concussions. Overuse injuries, such as Achilles tendinitis and shin splints, frequently occur, as well.
Common soccer injuries
The most common types of injuries sustained while playing soccer are bruising, sprains, strains, fractures and dislocations. Injuries to the lower body (ankle and knee) are most common, followed by the upper body and head. Common causes of injuries are player contact, falls and tackles.
Stress fractures happen frequently to soccer players, especially in weight-bearing bones like the foot or the leg. Repetitive stress weakens the bone and begins to break it down. Traumatic fractures usually occur at the ankle bones and metatarsal fractures are caused by a direct blow or impact to the foot.
Heading in soccer can increase your risk of concussions. Over time, repeated subconcussive injuries can also accumulate and cause brain damage. But with proper technique and protective head gear, it's possible to reduce your risk. You can also stay prepared by learning the concussion protocol.
The main reason why soccer is not popular in the USA is because of the American culture. There is a great number of aspects in soccer that simply don't match with the social beliefs of americans. This phenomenon, combined with other historical events, made soccer a unactractive sport for americans.
Boxing. The Sweet Science. That's the sport that demands the most from the athletes who compete in it. It's harder than football, harder than baseball, harder than basketball, harder than hockey or soccer or cycling or skiing or fishing or billiards or any other of the 60 sports we rated.
Soccer can be considered boring because players will often pass sideways and backward for long periods of time. In addition, in some matches, no goals are scored by either team thus making the entertainment of the sport rather dull. However, for others, the sport of soccer is simply boring.
Indeed, even campaigners for change make clear they are not advocating headers to be banned. Yet as solid evidence has emerged from scientific research linking heading a ball to increased risk of neurodegenerative brain disease, there is a swell of people calling for the practice to be reanalysed.
A 2018 study by the University of British Columbia found that blood levels of proteins associated with damage to nerve cells increase after heading the ball. A single header is unlikely to cause any significant damage, but over an extended period the combined effect might lead to problems.
OVERALL FINAL SCORES. Analysis: Boys and girls tennis emerged as the safest sports, with very few overall injuries, concussions, time loss due to injuries, surgeries, and catastrophic injuries. Not surprisingly, several contact sports (football, boys and girls lacrosse, wrestling) scored near the bottom.
Shin splints (soreness in the calf), patellar tendinitis (pain in the knee), and Achilles tendinitis (pain in the back of the ankle) are some of the more common Soccer overuse conditions. Soccer players are also prone to groin pulls and thigh and calf muscle strains.
Health benefits of playing soccer
Soccer can be a great workout and lots of fun. The health benefits include that it: increases aerobic capacity and cardiovascular health. lowers body fat and improves muscle tone.
So, why are soccer players so dramatic and fake injuries? This phenomenon is called Foul Simulation. Players use it as a strategy to manipulate the decision of the referee.
Even though people generally think of soccer as a safer sport than football, soccer players experience concussions about as often as football players. Concussions are usually caused by head collisions with players, goalposts, or the ground.
The current guidelines don't stop children from heading the ball in matches, but they do forbid heading the ball as part of training until the age of 12 – when it is gradually introduced.
Heading the ball correctly is important for both fun and enjoyment but also for the safety of children and players as they develop. Safety is the key element and helping children to learn the proper way is crucial.
The most common mechanisms for a concussion are player-to-player contact (head-to-head, head-to-body) and head-to-ground contact2. This means that banning purposeful heading would only have a small impact on reducing concussions in youth soccer.
A leading study on football from Glasgow University, published in 2019, discovered that former football players are three-and-a-half times more likely to die of neurogenerative disease than age-matched members of the public; and were more likely to be prescribed dementia-related medication.
When a person is hit in the head, the brain bounces back and forth in the skull, the researchers explain, which can lead to damaged brain cells and even damage to surrounding tissue. Such an impact can break nerve fibers called axons or connective cell tissue called synapses.
Golf is Britain's most boring sport
Golf holds a long lead over the next most boring sports. American Football is the second most snooze-worthy sport, being branded boring by 59% of people who have ever watched it, followed closely by cricket (58%), darts (also 58%) and snooker (57%).