Footbag as a form of knee rehab?

Friar Fly · Post by **Friar Fly** » 26 Jan 2010 19:44

One of the main reasons I got into footbag was learning that John Stalberger used it to help recover from knee surgery. I have dealt with knee pain throughout my adult life. Has anyone who had knee pain before starting footbag noticed that it helped?

Iron Clad Ben · Post by **Iron Clad Ben** » 26 Jan 2010 20:34

For just kicking it can probably help a little bit to get legs stronger. Doing actual freestyle can make it worse. The repeated slamming of support legs can be hell on the knees, especially if your form is off. I injured one of my knees with bad clipper form on one side and had to take 6 months off and did strength training.

I would recommend leg strength training (leg press, squats, extensions etc.) as a way to strengthen the muscles on the legs, and lessen the impact on the knees. Strong muscles mean less stress on joints. That will be much better than footbag.

Unless you have impeccable form, freestyle footbag is generally going to make any joint injuries you have worse. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'd rather tell you the truth then have you only hurt yourself more.

Friar Fly · Post by **Friar Fly** » 27 Jan 2010 17:00

Iron Clad Ben wrote:Unless you have impeccable form, freestyle footbag is generally going to make any joint injuries you have worse. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'd rather tell you the truth then have you only hurt yourself more.

You didn't burst my bubble at all! I'm still at a point where I can barely pull off multiple kicks, and even then it's with my right (dominant) leg. I'm nowhere near ready to start freestyling--still need lots of practice.

And, after re-reading my first post, it looks as if I exaggerated. Ten years ago, my knee pain was caused by going from rarely climbing stairs to having to climb them frequently on a near-daily basis. Now, my knee pain occurs as a result of bad sleeping posture (as was the case on Saturday) or leaving them in one position too long.

I don't have access to gym equipment such as a leg press, but I'll be starting a strength-training regimen soon. Thanks for your reply!

Iron Clad Ben · Post by **Iron Clad Ben** » 27 Jan 2010 21:29

OK man, cool. Be careful! If you start to feel knee pain, STOP playing. It's tempting to just down a bunch of advil and keep playing like nothing's wrong. For the time being, doing just kicks should actually strengthen your legs somewhat. But yeah, if you can do leg press, that is KEY. Also, I recommend doing HEAVY weights, with SLOW repetitions (~15s each) for just 7 or 8 reps. You'll bring your muscles to failure much faster. You won't be able to play the next day too well, but if you do that once a week, you'll start to get stronger pretty quick.

peter pan · Post by **peter pan** » 27 Jan 2010 22:14

cycling is a lot better for the knees, it is just not as fun as hack.