Mindfulness for Soccer Injury Prevention

Author: Matt Couch

Publish Date: Aug. 12, 2019

I was introduced to Mindfulness when I was teaching in San Diego at an inner city school in an area notorious for gang activity. Our administration hired professionals from the University of Southern California to instruct us on how to guide students through mindfulness techniques. The techniques focused on breath, stretches and being in the present in order to prepare the students for class. After seeing some success with a few of the more challenging students, I thought of how mindfulness could be used in my private trainings or team trainings.

I first started implementing mindfulness in my private training to help improve player technique. I would have the player close their eyes and in a stationary position have them swing their legs as if they were shooting or passing a ball. At first the player would just swing and swing and swing their leg with no real thought of why they were doing what I was asking. Once I was able to get the player to slow down their movement, they started to recognize the little things in their technique that was lacking.

As I was thinking of my next topic for the blog post I wondered if mindfulness has been applied to soccer by other people. After a little research I found a research article by a group of gentlemen from the Halmstad University in Sweden. They took 41 male and female soccer players ranging in ages 16-19. The injury criteria was defined as “occurring as a result of participation in a soccer practice or game,” and second the injury “resulted in four days or more of restricted or no practice.” Players were assigned based on number of injuries then were divided into a control group and treatment group. The treatment group met once a week for 45 minutes practicing the MAC (Mindfulness - Acceptance - Commitment) approach. The control group players also met once a week for 45 minutes but received a lecture by a sports psychologist on soccer related topics. The results were positive for the group that practiced mindfulness, according to the study “participants in the treatment group experienced fewer injuries (total = 8) than the participants in the control group (total = 15).”

If you have experienced an injury relating to soccer activity you know how much if can affect you mentally. Not being able to join your teammates in soccer related activities takes a toll on a player's emotions. Eventually, players drop out or retire from playing. If a simple thing like mindfulness can help a player recover or even stay healthy it’s worth introducing to your players and practicing yourself. We all know the importance of the mind on the field when it comes to tactical skill, the mindfulness method is another resource to help further develop the game and the players.