A.S.P.I. Training and ACL Injury Prevention

The facts: Did you know that although soccer is a contact sport, that around %70 of ACL injuries occur during the non-contact portion of the game? Most tears happen during moments of deceleration, cutting during sprinting, and landing after a jump. Did you also know that girls are more than seven times more likely than boys to suffer an ACL tear. The ACL is a ligament than joins bones in the knee together. In soccer the ACL is a major stabilizing element in rotational movements like planting, cutting and pivoting.

The solution: Studies have shown that speed and agility training can help to reduce ACL injuries significantly. Any training that incorporates rotational movement can help prevent ACL injuries, however, ASPI training is uniquely effective in this respect. Studies at at the Santa Monica (Calif.) Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation that utilized training similar to ASPI's showed a reduction in injury rates by %72!!!

What sets ASPI training apart from other programs is the level and amount of instruction and attention to detail that is only possible the achieve in smaller group settings. We pay particular attention to movement mechanics and perform all movements in a progression so that the athlete's muscles, nervous system and brain are all imprinted with correct information before performing a task at higher intensities. Athlete's are not progressed until they have learned basic tasks before moving forward to perform more demanding tasks. Many tasks are meant to be performed at a very high intensity, with precision, but at low volumes. In many cases, however, with some other programs I have seen the opposite: an activity is introduced and explained once and then the athlete is expected to perform the exercise repeatedly at much higher volumes than what is indicated for a given exercise.

No amount of training can prevent ACL injuries from the violent collisions and bad tackles that can somtimes happen in soccer. However, along with producing faster, more efficient athletes, ASPI training can certainly contribute to significantly reducing a majority of ACL injuries.