Hans Martin Bjørkevoll
I help parents of young soccer players go from being confused and insecure about what advice to follow and how to navigate the youth soccer world, to feeling confident and secure so that they can best support their kids’ soccer journey going forward. Licensed sports physiotherapist, coach and dad. Subscribe to the newsletter to learn more about how you better can use the 165 hours a week your kid is not at team practice.
A Gardener's approach to helping your kid scan the football pitch better
Hi, You know that kid who is smaller than everyone else, but somehow doesn't get tackled, dispossessed or even look stressed in the heat of a match? I had a teammate like that growing up, and it was great to play with him. And equally, it was extremely frustrating playing against him in practice. As an adult, I've realized that his super-power wasn't his technical or tactical abilities (although to be fair, he could probably have played professionally had he wanted to). He simply knew when,...
A football physio's field notes: helping kids stay injury free with minimal effort
Hi, Have you noticed the time spent on injury prevention, or perhaps more accurately, reducing the risk of injury, for your child? If your child's team is anything like any of the teams I have observed and consulted with, they are lucky if they have a 2 minute "strength circuit" as part of their warm-up. That time-investment is minuscule for most youth players despite the fact that research quite consistently has shown that specific, structured warm-up programs lasting 10-15 minutes before...
A football physio's field notes: nerding out on football shoes (how best to equip your child)
Hi, I had a conversation last week that perhaps sounds familiar to you. Another parent asked me whether the type of studs their child uses actually makes any difference to the risk of injury or for their performance. It struck us both that there are a lot of claims regarding this, what shoe to buy, for what kind of surface, for various shapes of feet, that are really quite unsubstantiated (at least that is my experience, but I am probably biased here). When I got back home I had to go through...
A football physio's field notes: the similarities between weight loss and youth football
Hi, This week I was reminded of how much of an impact the environment around us, our surroundings, have on our behaviour. I listened to a podcast episode that talked about what society's influence on weight loss was (pre-Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs). Something lit up way back in my mind, as I have known, but not articulated this connection before. The similarities between the environment's impact on weight loss, how supportive or non-supportive it is, how easily available unhealthy...
A football physio's field notes: please, stop the stretching!
Hi, You know the routine. Ten minutes before kick-off, the team fans out across the pitch and starts going through the motions. A bit of quad stretching, some hamstring holds, maybe a hip flexor or two. None of the kids really want to do it. Here's the thing: the research backs the kids up on this one. Static stretching, the hold-it-for-30-seconds kind, doesn't reduce the risk of injury. On top of that, it temporarily reduces both performance and the muscle's ability to protect itself against...
The player who always went right
Hi, A thought occurred to me when hearing David Epstein talk on a podcast about his new book on constraints (link to the specific episode here if you're interested): David Epstein On Why Constra... May 4 · The Rich Roll Podcast 125:28 He mentioned that research says the brain avoids thinking when it doesn't have to. Given total freedom, we take the path of least resistance. We do what we've always done. The only reliable way to produce something new is to either block the familiar solution or...
A football physio's field notes: one thing common to injured youth players
Hi, When I've treated young footballers in the clinic, injuries have been varied. Ankle sprains, knee pain, stress fractures, ACL tears. But one thing is almost always the same. The kid is regarded as a hard worker. Never skips practice. Does extra on their own. And that extra work is usually 100 jumps every single day 'to get more explosive', or hundreds of repetitions of the same technique drill, over and over, in a quiet backyard with no defender, no pressure, no decisions to make. I can...
A Gardener's principles for youth football sideline support
5 core principles for supporting your kid from the sideline If you've been to enough youth football matches, you know how parents can behave on the sidelines. Everything from sitting inside an idling car waiting for the kid to finally be finished with the match, to scrolling on the phone, to chatting with other parents, to constantly shouting instructions, to verbally abusing everyone but themselves. By receiving this, I gather you are not in the latter group. But if you sometimes do point...
I help parents of young soccer players go from being confused and insecure about what advice to follow and how to navigate the youth soccer world, to feeling confident and secure so that they can best support their kids’ soccer journey going forward. Licensed sports physiotherapist, coach and dad. Subscribe to the newsletter to learn more about how you better can use the 165 hours a week your kid is not at team practice.