Today, I am going to write about my personal experience as a player with injuries and how that relates to our fantastic medical staff and rehabilitation protocols at FC Odisea.
As a player I suffered two major hips surgeries. Both labral injuries that kept me out of the field for about six to eight months each surgery. After my experiences, we decided that FC Odisea was going to have access to top doctors and physicians every time one of our players was injured.
With the help of our medical staff we decided to develop a simple 5 step program for rehabilitation. This is a basic model that we use, however, depending on the injury we might altered accordingly. The main goal of this protocol was to return an injured athlete to practice or competition without putting the individual at risk of injury.
Phase 1: Once the player has been cleared to begin weight-bearing training they can start very basic sport-specific warm-ups and gradually progress a cardiovascular workout.
Phase 2: The next phase incorporates increased intensity exercise, and builds upon the duration of aerobic exercise. Drills for football-specific skills include dribbling, cone use, and kicking/shooting that can be initiated on an individual basis.
Phase 3: The third phase includes some individual work and some partner work. This includes increased conditioning, building up to 60 minutes, and gradual increase in the intensity as well, incorporating some interval work. There is no contact involved, but partner passing and ball striking/shooting at the goal may be initiated.
Phase 4: The fourth phase brings some team drills, but still precludes contact. Regular conditioning exercises may be resumed at this point. Team passing and ball striking/shooting drills may be initiated. Defensive and attacking drills may be run without contact.
Phase 5: The fifth phase includes full practice and contact. Contact situations should first occur in a practice environment. Full practices and simulated games should be completed before an actual competition is attempted.
Javier Alcarria
Odisea Sports Management, Founder & CEO
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