An Injury Setback

After a bright start to 2013, I suffered an injury setback. Last Friday, I tore my left hamstring. It's been almost 11 years since I had a hamstring injury. With the clock ticking down, I need to be able to shake off the injury for our next match in February. Here's a rundown for my injury. 

A pulled hamstring may also be called a torn hamstring or hamstring strain. It’s when one or more of the hamstring muscles are abruptly or forcefully stretched/pulled past their normal positioning. This injury is commonly caused by activities that involve sprinting, such as track, football, baseball and basketball.

Anatomy As It Related To A Pulled Hamstring

The hamstring actually isn’t one large muscle, but rather three muscles located in the posterior thigh. The semitendinosus, the semimembranosus and the biceps femoris comprise the hamstring. It starts in the lower pelvis and runs the length of the femur bone. It crosses the back of the knee along either side and attaches to the fibula and tibia bones. The large muscle controls much movement in the body. It helps to turn the leg out and in, allows the knee to flex, assists with hip extension, and is highly involved with power lower extremity movements for thrust and propulsion. The hamstring is also highly involved is eccentric movement. It increases in length when under tension, acting as a braking system to stop the movement. This action can be felt in the hamstring as one tries to stop suddenly from a sprint.

Causes Of A Pulled Or Torn Hamstring

The biceps femoris is the most often pulled hamstring muscle. More often than not, pulled hamstrings occur while under eccentric motion. The stretching or tearing could also be the result of a direct hit to the area or any movement that causes the muscle fibers to abruptly or forcefully contract. Other risk factors include:

* poor flexibility

* significant imbalances in strength or flexibility between hamstring and quadriceps muscle groups

* hamstring fatigue or weakness

* overexertion of hamstring

* leg length differences may cause tighter and more apt to pull hamstrings

* participation in activities and sports that require quick starts-and-stops

Let's hope I'm able to recover on time as I need match fitness and match sharpness as well. Hope this injury is not too severe. Til next time folks. Cheerio! 

A New Beginning

As I embark on a new beginning in the year 2013, football has been by my side since 1992. With all the ups and downs, football has been loyal to me albeit it can be heartbreaking at times too. Last year was a breakout year, personally and professionally. That's all in the past now and I hope I can achieve further success than last year. 

One thing came to mind for 2013 was playing regular football. Don't get me wrong. I've been playing futsal aka indoor football for close to a decade now but it isn't just the same. I'm one passionate man when it comes to football. Started watching it since 1992. Started playing it since 1995. Been a student ever since. 

Last Saturday, me and my futsal mates had our first match of 2013 at Kepong. It was our first football game together. We've been playing futsal together for a decade now and we believe it's time for us to step it up a notch and give ourselves a try on a football field. Unfortunately but as expected, we lost the game 5-1. Though it was a heavy defeat for us, there are a lot of positives we all can take from it and I personally believe it will benefit us all as a team. 

We were up against the RMC '99 Old Boys. We played in 3 halves of 30+20+20 as we had stamina issues. I'm pretty sure we were all excited and nervous at the same time when the match started. No doubt they were much fitter than us. We were outpaced by them but definitely not outclassed. We drew level at 1-1 after going a goal down. Ezuan took his chances well and finish it off calmly. Then the floodgates opened for them. Banging in 3 further goals against us. By the end of first half, we were already down 4-1. 

The lads looked tired and dejected but our player manager, Ezry aka AgVB (currently out with a knee injury) made a couple of necessary changes and lifted our spirits. We did much better in the 2nd half as we managed to keep the scores goalless. Special mention to Kapal, our 'keeper who kept things at bay with a string of fine saves.  

As we moved on to the 3rd half, fatigue began to tire their defence. We managed to create a couple of chances. Unfortunately we couldn't convert our chances into goals. I myself, had a glorious chance to reduce the deficit after side stepping the 'keeper but fluffed the shot just wide of the goal. What a sitter!!! All I can say was, it happens to the best of us. The most important thing is that we are creating chances up front. So that should not be a concern to us. We conceded another goal late on but as I said earlier, there are plenty of positives we can take from our first game. 

Our next game will be in February and we have plenty of time to prepare ourselves as we look towards a better performance and better understanding. Not forgetting adjusting ourselves to a new environment. To my teammates, do not let this defeat derail us as we will improve and with more practice, we will get better. There are a couple of absentees last Saturday, therefore we are looking forward for their attendance in the next game to boost the squad. A thank you note to Yus who made this all possible.