Many soccer players think that injuries are equal with walking around with a pair of crutches.

Well, in some case this might be true, but I know from experience that there are always things you can practice on even if you can’t run with a ball.

Let me give you an example: Let’s imagine that you have an injury that forces you to go with crutches for one month.

Instead of sitting down and feeling down you could practice on your overall strength. The best way to do that is to perform sit-ups and push-ups.

Following are examples on common injuries related to soccer and what form of physical training you should be able to participate in while having the injury.

Broken Arm

With a broken arm you will be able to play soccer; however participating in real soccer games will be dangerous because you may worsen your injury.

Ask your doctor for advice on what you can and what you can’t do. This is incredibly important, because ignoring the doctor’s advice could have you off the field for several months at a time!

What soccer player honestly wants that? This is even more the case if you have dreams of becoming a professional – you want to still be able to impress talent scouts.

Broken Leg

This injury will make it impossible to play soccer, unless you are able to jump around with one leg 🙂 However, you should not feel discouraged about that.

Instead work on your upper body strength and perform exercises that you can do everywhere (sit-ups, push-ups etc.)

Head Injury

Some head injuries don’t require rest from physical activities. However, you may need some special protection to get permission to play with a head injury. If you are unsure about this, always ask your doctor for advice.

Keep in mind that a head injury is the most dangerous injury in soccer and you should take it very seriously. There is no soccer game that’s worth risking your long term brain health!

Knee Injury

A knee injury is the most common major injury. There are several types of knee injuries in soccer but we will not discuss those in this article.

Some of them may require special protection to play with and others may require surgery. However, during a knee injury you can always work to strength your whole upper body.

The former Swedish fullback Johan Mjällby said that he would have never become a professional if it wasn’t for his knee injury.

He was hold off the field for 8 months and instead of being discouraged and feeling sad about himself, he bought a health center membership and started to work on his over body.

When he was back, it was impossible to win a 1 on 1 duel against him and short after that he went professional.

Summary

As you can see, injuries in soccer can also bring good things. However it is your own responsibility to keep yourself active while having them.