At YAX, we use Functional Movement Screening (FMS) to help create healthier athletes every day. The FMS toolkit is widely used in the EPL and MLS today. Many elite professionals such as Bayan Munich of Liverpool FC and Zlatan Ibrahimovic of LA Galaxy begin their season with FMS.

Because soccer fields 11-14 athletes per game and a single injury can completely set back an entire team, FMS is key in injury prevention to create more durable athletes. Even though soccer is a team sport, the need for individualization is key to each athlete’s health.

A common presumption is that football injuries are ranked most common for injury occurances, but that doesn’t mean soccer isn’t a close 3rd and 4th for boys’ and girls’ soccer respectively, according to the CDC. The majority of soccer injuries typically involve the lower extremities. This is why we asses many kinetic chain points of the lower body (i.e., hips, knees and ankles).

If you’ve ever participated in a screen you may feel that the movements don’t exactly mimic soccer techniques but the movements selected allow us, as trainers, to assess how you move generally and give us more insight to why you move the way you do. In most sports, the FMS can be used as a return to play protocol and evaluate readiness to return to the field. FMS is a great communication tool to be used between surgeon’s, physical therapists and fitness professionals. It allows us to better evaluate appropriate progressions.

Want to hear it from the pros? Read how and why LA Galaxy Strength Coach Ben Yauss uses FMS!

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