- What steps Norwich City are taking to reduce injuries.
- How players can reduce the risk of injuries.
- Hard to remove risk entirely.
Norwich City were not the only team to suffer from injuries this season. Indeed, most teams seem to have injury issues at some point.
But with Philippe Clement reviewing these problems, it is worth looking at how to address injury issues and how to reduce them.
New arrival
Norwich City are already being proactive in addressing its fitness problems. The arrival of Performance Director Paul Ford MBE is seen as a way of providing a framework to make the team fitter.
Clement has also taken the unusual step of bringing the squad in after a week’s break for ten days of extra fitness training, something that should help get the team through the long slog that the Championship can be.
Taking steps
It is worth looking at each detail when considering fitness. How effectively do the players warm up and cool down?
Boots are also an issue- there have been moments in games where players have struggled on surfaces due to not having the right kind of boot. A slip may not just be costly in terms of giving a goal away but could also increase the risk of injuries.
Simple things like making sure shin guards are properly secured with tape can make a difference.
These things may sound obvious but often it is the seeming innocuous issues that end up causing problems later down the line.
Prevention
Teams also need to be alert to avoiding issues where possible. For example, deep issue sports massage can be an effective way of reducing hamstring injuries, something that can often occur during an intense game.
Strength training can also be a way to reduce the risk of problems such as the injury Mohammed Toure picked up on a sprint this season.
Recovery
One area where Clement was smart involved giving players breaks as necessary. It was why you often saw him bring players off at half-time, especially given the number of players that were out injured throughout the season.
This is also where players have to be responsible too, ensuring that they look after themselves between games as well as during training.
Risk
It should be stressed that there is no way to remove the risk of injury completely.
It will be interesting to see next season whether Clement rotates the team as much as he did this season.
Hopefully, it will happen less often because we have a fitter Norwich City team.
