July 14, 2026 - TCO

STAYING ON THE FIELD: A Soccer Injury Prevention Guide

Dr. Christie Heikes is a highly-regarded orthopedic surgeon who specialized in sports medicine. She’s also the team physician for the Minnesota Aurora and several high schools in the Twin Cities area. She’s an expert on soccer injuries and, more importantly, how to prevent them. 

Dr. Heikes recently joined Twin Cities Live to talk soccer injuries and prevention. We’ve created this companion guide to help players prevent common soccer injuries, train at their best and know when it’s time to visit Twin Cities Orthopedics (TCO). 

How can you prevent soccer injuries?

You can’t control everything that happens on the field but you shouldn’t have to play scared. With these habits in mind, you can build a body that’s ready for the game. 

• Warm up like it matters. Trade the old toe-touch stretches for a dynamic warm-up that gets your heart rate up and wakes your muscles up. A structured routine like the FIFA 11+ is one of the best tools out there.
• Get stronger from the ground up. Strong hips, glutes, hamstrings, and core take the pressure off your knees and ankles. Squats, lunges, bridges, and planks go a long way in or out of the gym.
• Practice landing and balance. Learning to land softly and keeping your knees tracking forward instead of caving inward is one of the most powerful ways to protect your ACL. Single-leg balance drills and jump-landing practice help.
• Build up gradually. Add intensity and mileage a little at a time and give yourself real rest days. Sudden jumps in activity are behind a lot of overuse injuries.
• Take recovery seriously. Sleep, water, and good food aren’t extras. They’re how your body repairs itself and stays resilient week after week.
• Wear gear that fits. Use cleats suited to your field, replace them when they wear down, and always wear your shin guards.
• Listen to your body and don’t push through pain. Pain is your body asking you to pay attention. Catching a small issue early often means avoiding a much bigger one later, and physical therapy at TCO can help you come back stronger than before.

What is the FIFA 11+ warm-up?

The FIFA 11+ is a 15 to 20 minute warm-up built by FIFA’s own medical researchers specifically to keep soccer players healthy. Instead of the usual jog and a few stretches, it pulls together running drills, strength moves, balance work, and jump-landing practice, all aimed at the parts of the body that get hurt most: the knees and ankles. 

What makes it special is that it actually works, and we have the research to prove it. When teams do the FIFA 11+ consistently, about two or three times a week, they tend to see roughly a third fewer lower-body injuries, with even bigger drops in ACL injuries among young female players. There’s also a version called FIFA 11+ Kids made just for younger athletes. 

The best part? It’s completely free and it fits into the time you’d already spend warming up. A few minutes of the right movements before you play is one of the smartest investments you can make in a healthy season. 

What are the most common soccer injuries and why do they happen?

Most soccer injuries happen below the waist. All that cutting, pivoting, kicking, and sudden stopping puts a lot of demand on your knees and ankles. Understanding what causes each injury makes it a lot easier to see why the habits above matter. Here’s what we treat most often, and what tends to cause it: 

• Ankle sprains. This is the big one. Most ankle sprains come from rolling or twisting the ankle while cutting, landing, or getting tangled up with another player.
• Knee injuries, including the ACL. Tears of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), along with meniscus and MCL injuries, often happen on a sudden stop, an awkward landing, or a quick change of direction. If your knee is involved, it’s always worth having our knee care team take a look.
• Osgood-Schlatter disease: A common cause of knee pain and swelling in active, growing adolescents. It is an overuse injury where the tendon connecting the kneecap to the shinbone becomes irritated.
• Sever’s disease: When the Achilles tendon repeatedly pulls on the inflamed growth plate of the heel bone, often during growth spurts.
• Hamstring strains. That sharp pull in the back of the thigh, usually during a sprint or a hard kick. They’re common, and they have a frustrating habit of coming back if you rush your return.
• Groin strains. Injuries to the inner thigh muscles, often from kicking and side-to-side movement.
• Shin splints and stress fractures. These build up slowly from a lot of running on hard surfaces, especially when you ramp up your training faster than your body is ready for.
• Concussions. Head injuries from a collision, a fall, or heading the ball. These are never something to brush off, and they should never be played through.
• Bruises, cuts, and fractures. The bumps and breaks that come with collisions, slide tackles, and hard falls.

Beyond the mechanics of each injury, a few broader factors raise your risk across the board:

• Contact and collisions with other players, the ground, or the ball itself
• Rushed or skipped warm-ups that send you onto the field before your body is ready
• Weak or imbalanced muscles, especially around the hips, core, and legs
• Fatigue, which is why so many injuries happen in the final minutes of a game
• Doing too much, too soon, without enough recovery between sessions
• Worn-out cleats or a rough field that don’t give you the footing you need

When should you see a specialist?

Plenty of soccer injuries can be cared for at home with rest, ice, compression, elevation, and the couch. But some need a professional eye to heal the right way and waiting too long can turn a manageable problem into a lasting one. It’s time to get checked out if you notice any of these. 

• Pain that isn’t getting better after a few days of rest
• Swelling, or a joint that feels unstable or like it might give way under you
• A pop or sharp pain right when you got hurt, especially in the knee
• Trouble putting weight on it or moving the joint the way you normally would
• Any sign of a concussion, like a headache, dizziness, confusion, or feeling foggy after a hit to the head
• The same injury that keeps coming back no matter how much you rest it

When something happens suddenly, like a bad sprain, a possible break, or a dislocated shoulder, TCO Urgent Care can get you seen quickly by people who treat these injuries every day, without the long wait of an emergency room, no referral or appointment needed. Walk-in care is available from 8-8 daily. For non-urgent matters, you can book an appointment online. 

We’re here to keep you playing

TCO and Training HAUS work in tandem to provide world-class sports medicine and sports performance expertise to athletes at every level of competition. Training HAUS prepares athletes to perform at their best, and if injury strikes, TCO Urgent Care locations are open 8-8 daily. Choose the location most convenient for you, check wait times online and walk in for the care you need.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can soccer injuries really be prevented?

Many of them can. Soccer is a contact sport, so you can’t avoid every injury, but consistent warm-up and balance training like the FIFA 11+ can lower injury rates by roughly a third. Pair that with TCO physical therapy and sports performance with Training HAUS to give yourself a real edge. 

What is the most common soccer injury?

Ankle sprains are the most common, followed by knee injuries (including ACL tears) and hamstring strains. 

How can I prevent ACL injuries in soccer?

The best protection comes from training how you land and move, so your knees stay aligned instead of caving inward. Programs like the FIFA 11+, sports performance training from Training HAUS and physical therapy from TCO can help reduce ACL injuries.

How long should a soccer warm-up be?

Aim for about 15 to 20 minutes of dynamic movement rather than holding stretches.

Do shin guards really make a difference?

They do. Shin guards help protect your lower legs from the kicks, collisions, and slide tackles that come with the game, and they’re required in organized play. Just make sure they fit well and cover your shins without getting in the way of your movement. 

When should I see a doctor for a soccer injury? 

Reach out to TCO if your pain isn’t improving with rest, if a joint is swollen or feels unstable, if you felt a pop when you got hurt, if you can’t put weight on it, or if you have any signs of a concussion. At TCO, you can access a multitude of specialists to get you back on the field.