Following an injury last year I was sat in a podiatrist’s office waiting to have my final appointment to see whether or not my ankle was good to go again. In terms of a podiatrist Melbourne has some of the very best in my view, sadly I have seen a couple of them during the years. Last year when I was there I got into a great chat with one of the podiatrists about things I could do to reduce the chance of injury when playing sports, and I have followed those tips ever since, and thankfully I have not yet had another problem. These are the tips which he shared with me. I want to share them with all of you as well.

The right equipment

When I was playing rugby last year, I hadn’t realised that I was wearing a boot which had a disconnected sole, and that was the reason why I went over on it. The point to make here then is that you should always make sure that you are wearing the right equipment when you are playing sports. Before playing, be sure to check over your kit to ensure there is nothing there which could cause an issue.

Technique

Technique is also a very important aspect of playing sport, and bad technique can most definitely get you injured. Let’s take running as a perfect example, if you have bad running technique, perhaps you won’t end up injuring yourself at once, but over time that technique could easily result in back or foot problems. The same rules apply no matter if you are playing golf, cricket or football, get the technique right so that you can avoid injury.

Playing Through Pain

We often romanticise playing through the pain, don’t we? The thing is though, we aren’t playing in the World Cup final, so there really is no reason at all to play through the pain. This is your body telling you that something isn’t right, so instead of popping ibuprofen and cracking on, it would be a much smarter move to get the issue checked out so that you can avoid a more painful injury further down the line.

Stretching

Stretching before and after playing sports is very boring, and for that reason, it is something that so many of us don’t bother doing. The benefit however of stretching before and after games is that in doing so you can warm up the joints and the muscles and ensure that you are flexible for the game or the event. Failure to warm up is the number one reason for muscle tears and pulled muscles, especially on areas of the body like the hamstring. Always be sure to warm up for at least 10 minutes, and spend at least 5 minutes warming down for considerable progress.

Follow these rules each and every time that you play sports in order to reduce your chances of suffering and preventing future injuries.

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