ACL Return to Sport Strength and Conditioning for Girls Soccer Players in Tampa Florida: Don’t Rush and Risk Re-Tear!

Athletes who have come to me for ACL return to sport in my training facility in Lutz Florida who were previously untrained in a true strength program prior to ACL injury almost always take longer to return after surgery.

I’ve seen anywhere around 12-14+ months for return to FULL minutes in all games & practices. I know it sounds CRAZY but please, hear me out because I don’t want your daughter to have to do this process all over again.

This simply takes longer because they must learn movement patterns for the first time, PROPER plyometric form and progression, CORRECT deceleration and cutting form, clean sprint mechanics, and gradual heavy loading of main lifts.

Don’t rush return and risk re-injury, doing this awful process all over again.

Motor learning, speed training, and robust strength building take TIME, and everyone is different.

The strength and conditioning phase is based not on a set timeline, but rather, how well trained the athlete was previously, and how the athlete adapts to the training.

So please, abandon the whole 9 months cleared nonsense.

It could be 12 months for your daughter. It could be 14 months for another girl.

It’s all based on check points with extensive cutting and changing direction movement screens (45-180 degree cuts) and progressing these in a diligent manner, with no random nonsense. Cutting is an advanced skill and must be coached.

Girls must also be tested on relative strength to body weight in the main lifts: deadlift, split squat, squat and single leg rdl. They must be tested on reactive strength index (RSI) on hops and drop jumps so they can showcase they’re ready for hard decelerations. They must undergo conditioning tests to prove they can last the whole game and not fatigue. And finally, complete psychological readiness screens to ensure they have no hesitation about going back.

If your return to sport specialist or physical therapy clinic is only doing one dinky hop, Y Balance test or a Biodex test, these won’t tell you if your girl is ready for what’s required of her in a full game.

A full game encompasses over a hundred sprints and changes of direction under high speeds, so your daughter must be strong and trained in these movements by a professional. Too, if her return to sport is extremely diligent, she won’t have any mental barriers going back to the field. She will, instead, be fully confident.

She needs to be assessed on all physical qualities needed to perform these actions well and stay healthy: agility, speed, deceleration, conditioning, and strength relative to body weight.

Girls re-tear because they didn’t strength train or condition hard enough, so in their first practices and games back, they fatigue a lot quicker, and fatigue is one of the biggest causes of injury.

Be diligent. Don’t rush. Re-tears are just as much of an epidemic as first tears due to incomplete and/or poor return to sport strength and conditioning.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Erica Mulholland is a former college 3x All-American soccer player and now Hall of Famer from Johns Hopkins University. She holds a Master of Science in Exercise Science and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach, who has been helping female athletes of all sports with speed, agility, strength, power, and conditioning for 14 years. She works with youth female athletes who want to become stronger, faster, and more confident. She is also a highly sought after strength coach who does ACL and meniscus surgery return to sport for female athletes in the later stages of rehab (must be over 3 month mark post-surgery with no more swelling and full range back to be considered for return to sport). Her return to sport testing is one of the most advanced and thorough in the Tampa Bay area.

Work with Erica in Tampa and Lutz Florida for speed, agility, and strength training, OR late stage ACL rehab (must be at minimum 3 months into physical therapy and post-surgery with all swelling down and full range of motion back): BOOK ASSESSMENT HERE

Interested in REMOTE TRAINING for Female Athletes? BOOK A CONSULT HERE