Preventing ACL Tears

How are we going to stop this massacre? Nine! Nine ACL tears on one football team?

That’s crazy!

And you’re telling me that something is not wrong with how strength & conditioning coaches are programming for football players?

You cannot fall properly if you cannot bend.

These athletes need programming with movements that encourage a greater range of motion that specifically addresses the ankles, knees, hips, and shoulder girdles.

Football players like hockey players need programs with dynamic exercises where the ligaments and tendons stretch and recoil quickly.

As coaches, we need to look deeply into these complex systems to enhance the body’s ability to contract and relax as fast as possible.

Or, better yet, call it switching!

This is true injury prevention training.

Year after year of slow locomotive exercises, with a shortened range of motion movements that exacerbate tightness in the joint complex and muscles, will make athletes susceptible to injury.

Injury prevention training is not compartmentalizing every body part with bodybuilding exercises and slow movements.

The athlete must be progressively exposed to dynamic and explosive movements to lower the risk of ACL tears.

Full-body exercises where the ankle fully stretches and recoil to stabilize loads above the head will address suppleness, mobility, flexibility, and core strength in athletes’ complex system of muscles, ligaments, and tendons.

This type of approach to training will drastically lower the risk of injury in all sports.  And that’s a fact.

Nine ACL tears on one football team! In my mind, this is criminal.

About the Author: Clance Laylor

Master Strength Coach at LPS Athletic – The Pro Maker™. Strength Coach, Educator, International Speaker, and Author of the #1 International Best-Selling book DOMINATE: They Can't Ignore You. Master Strength Coach Clance Laylor has emerged as one of the most respected names in professional strength and performance training for athletes. With over 30 years of experience, he has created success for hundreds of Olympians, Competitive & Professional Athletes (in NHL, MLB, NBA, CFL, NFL & MLS), Executives, and Strength Coaches alike. As a former athlete in his younger days, Laylor was struck with a career ending injury which he propelled him through a journey of scientific discovery to help athletes get strong, fast, explosive, agile, mobile, all while preventing injuries.

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