Pulled hamstring: Advice needed
I'm 23 and have recently started playing for a local Sunday league team. I used to play football as a kid, from age 8 to about 16, but then I got into coaching and hadn't played 11-a-side until a couple of months ago.
I was still fairly fit though due to constant 5-a-side games mid week.

During my first game with the team at the end of July I managed to pull my hammy in my left leg when I overstretched for the ball, understandable. It took me a few weeks to fully recover and returned to the team a couple of weeks ago.

Last week I played 70 minutes and was fine. Yesterday, I played 5 minutes before my RIGHT hamstring went. No over-stretching this time, just running for the ball. I've no idea why it pulled and I'm pissed off, but also concerned that it will keep happening.

I always stretch as much as possible before games (more so since the first hamstring injury)
I do a lot more stretching than the other players (who all seem to last 90 minutes without problem)
I certainly do a lot more stretching than I did when I played as a kid, and I never injured myself as a kid.

All I want to know is if I'm being really naive in thinking I've done enough stretching, when really I need to do more; or if there's another reason why one might suffer this type of injury more regularly than others?

EDIT: Alt Q: What's your worst sporting injury? Don't skimp on the gory details!
(porkinator is a Rock n Roll nerd!, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:31, 73 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

I enjoyed reading this by replacing the word stretch with wank.
You have either returned from injury too early or aren't stretching properly after the injury. I would go and see a physio to be sure. Niggling injuries suck.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:33, Reply)

To clarify
I initially injured my left leg, which is now fine.

It was the right leg that went yesterday after NO previous injuries to it
(porkinator is a Rock n Roll nerd!, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:34, Reply)

You are Robin Van Persie
AICMFP
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:37, Reply)

Hmmm
I am left-footed like Mr VP. You could be right
(porkinator is a Rock n Roll nerd!, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:38, Reply)

if it's hamstrings
I think you'll find he's Cesc Fabregas.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:15, Reply)

Unlike the beautiful Mr Fabregas
RVP is perma-injured.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:21, Reply)

Yes
and last time I checked Fabregas has been taken off or limped off with a hamstring strain five times in the last about ten games. Both legs, too.

van Persie is just another Arsenal china doll, but I think Fabregas has a long term problem. I've no idea why a team with Wilshire and Ramsey in it doesn't just sell him to Barca for the 79 gazillion that is on offer.

And don't even get me started on Wenger's utter blindness about playing without an actual goalkeeper. I can only assume Almunia has some photos of Wenger penetrating ducks which he uses to blackmail him into selection.

And I don't even fucking support Arsenal and it still annoys me.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:26, Reply)

I am convinced Arsenal are the most frustrating team to support at the moment.
I was up for Fabregas going until I saw what an influence he has made so far this season. I think he should stay til 25 then do one. this season and next.

God knows about the keeper situation it really is irritating to hell. Almunia is just rubbish and Flappyhandski has zero confidence. It's the one position that Wenger has been crap at sorting out.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:29, Reply)

Ha ha ha
yeah excercise advice, you're in the right place.
(PsychoChomp, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:39, Reply)

How much exercise do you get?

(Himjim died a little more inside on, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:44, Reply)

Is chasing girls through dark alleys
a sport?
(Himjim died a little more inside on, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:44, Reply)

you've got take into account the wrestling them to the ground as well
I can only imagine that a woman fearing for her life etc. would put up quite a fight.

At least until the chloroform takes effect
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:46, Reply)

Chloroform?
Lightweight.
Use a lead pipe and MTFU.
(Tugnut Ex of this parish, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:59, Reply)

that way you can fuck the head wound as well I suppose

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:00, Reply)

Like in Glasgow!
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2010/08/24/gangster-friend-of-kevin-gerbil-carrol-has-head-drilled-with-power-tool-in-feud-over-drugs-86908-22509635/
(Himjim died a little more inside on, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:01, Reply)

fucking hell
that's horrific
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:02, Reply)

Drillbucket.
(Dead Rising 2 reference)
(PsychoChomp, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:03, Reply)

Really fancy getting that
but can't justify the cost right now. Such a shame.
(Himjim died a little more inside on, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:06, Reply)

Got it on Friday
Love it, but the psychopaths are pretty much unkillable when you're a low level. Survivor AI has been improved though, they're less retard like now.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:21, Reply)

I played the demo prequel but didn't have the original
and not bothered picking it up yet. I want the new Borderlands DLC.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:22, Reply)

"piled out of the cars" ?
screw the injury, that writing made me wince.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:12, Reply)

I was shocked at the
"The y pinned"

Who is this Y they talk of? A gang leader?
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:17, Reply)

5 hours a week,
which sounds like loads but in reality it's just getting to and from work.
(PsychoChomp, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:47, Reply)

I figured
some users might have suffered a similar injury trying to reach an escaped doughnut with their foot as they tried desperately not to slip off the sofa
(porkinator is a Rock n Roll nerd!, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:46, Reply)

Hmmm
I once closed my shotgun and caught a little bit of skin in the hinge.

Hurt like fuck.
(Himjim died a little more inside on, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:40, Reply)

shotgun legs
the hinge my bum
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:43, Reply)

twisted my knee surfing
it was about 2 mins after getting in the sea. Paddling out, went over a wave, must have flicked my legs up or something. All of a sudden agony coming from my knee. Could barely walk. Took about a year to properly recover and still gets twinges now and then.

Not as bad as my mrs who got hit in the face by her own board. I had to take her to hospital to be glued back together. If she hadn't been so calm after it happened I would have lost it. There was so much blood coming out of her face.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:44, Reply)

I'm glad she's ok now
as I laugh at anything that involves face hitting.

Which is why I laugh at Lampito so much
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:46, Reply)

it really looked like she'd been punched in the eye
while we were waiting in the hospital some old dude came in who had cut his finger off pruning the roses or something. He went round the group of people there asking who was in for what. Got to my mrs, looked at her, looked at her face, looked at me and then moved on.

I spent two weeks with everyone looking at me like I was beating my mrs.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:50, Reply)

you should have shouted at him in your best camp voice
"Don't judge me dhaarrrling, I'm saving her!"

Or made her wear clown makeup
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:53, Reply)

haha
if it ever arises again I will do just that
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:53, Reply)

I just had Rio come out of my nose (not Ferdinand, the drink)
reading this "I had to take her to hospital to be glued back together" I had a very strange mental image.

Best surfing injury ever was my mate Smithy running back up to the car with board underarm but not having released his safety line which caught on the top step at Puttsborough catapaulting him down to the bottom.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:54, Reply)

that does sound excellent.
the injuries I have experience with have been a bit horrific tbh.

My old colleague got a fin across her face, slashed up her cheek, over her eye and up her forehead. Escaped without a scar.

another mate of mine had an experience almost exactly the same. Brand new razor sharp fins, slashed his cheek right open. Took them 4 hours to sew him up again.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:57, Reply)

Face cutting is horrid. A friend of mine got hit by a flying tent peg that pinged out of the ground
and now has a 6 inch scar running across his face.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:04, Reply)

ouch

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:06, Reply)

^this

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:10, Reply)

it was horrible, In Croyde, tents all set up about to go to the beach
his missus rushes back in the tent to get her bag, trips, putting all her weight on the back of the tent which pulled the guide ropes out and *PING* *SLASH* *AAAAARRRGH* he dropped like a bastard with blood pissing out between his fingers.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:18, Reply)

That is awful.
If you're going to have a scar you at least want a story of heroic derring-do about how you got it.
Like the one I have on the middle digit of my left hand, from bravely opening a tin of tomato soup. There were no easy ring pull tops or electric can openers back in those days. Yeah, hardcore.
(Cave Duck, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:10, Reply)

I have a similar one in the webbing of my left hand
from vaulting a spiked fence to retrieve a frisbee.

Sorry, from bravely fighting off a knife-wielding thug who was mugging a lovely old granny. WIth my bare hands. Yeah. That was definitely it.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:14, Reply)

I have a burn scar which will fit the shape of any Seat Ibiza key.

( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:19, Reply)

It's very hard to stretch a hamstring properly before a game.
it's one of the more tricky stretches. Also, most people who think they know how to stretch properly have no idea, so speak to a professional trainer about your warm-up.

And I can either offer you the one I'm currently waiting to be rebuilt from, which was a hockey stick to the face last year that cost me four teeth, a shattered maxilla, a shattered palette and four operations out of ten complete, I'm just waiting for a bone graft...

or

Coming off my bike on the dual slalom course at Malverns about ten years ago without body armour and landing on a broken beer bottle. Which hurt exactly as much as it sounds like it would, and nearly cut my kneecap clean off.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:53, Reply)

Yay more face hitting stories!!
....I mean.... poor baby you ok now? there there
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:55, Reply)

haha, no. not at all
they are going to bone graft me without general anasthetic. I am reliable informed it's the most painful operation it's possible to have (well, level with bone marrow transplant). I am so looking forward to that right now.

Also, having bits of your jaw pulled out through holes in your gums with only local isn't the most fun I've had with my clothes on.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:04, Reply)

Why no anasthetic?
Is it because in Scotland they are MACHO and 'ARD and don't belive in sissy southern pain relief?
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:16, Reply)

I have no fucking idea.
With the original stuff it was because there wasn't time for it to take effect, they had to do stuff immediately. I think with the bone graft it's to do with where they do the operation, as in whether the hospital has an A&E or not.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:22, Reply)

Sounds like you have short hamstrings.
When you were a kid you probably had some form of intoeing - which is where you walk with in-turned feet. This usually corrects itself but as you get older and are playing sports with a lot of twisting it can cause weaknesses which will result in hamstring injuries.
As a doctor it is of my opinion that you are genetically weak and should take up a sedate pastime more fitting of your 'lavender' disposition.
(Tugnut Ex of this parish, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:57, Reply)

as a Doctor offering a second opinion
may I also suggest he takes two teaspoons of a cement and hardens the fuck up?
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:01, Reply)

Haha nice turn of phrase, there.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:04, Reply)

I cannot claim it as my own
I first heard it from a friend. But it is rather splendid, isn't it?
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:06, Reply)

I might try this
though I hardly think it'll make a difference.

After driving to the game in my Honda Accord and snorting some massive drugs off a supermodel's breasts I feel as hard as fuck.
(porkinator is a Rock n Roll nerd!, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:08, Reply)

steady, there
It's "tits" unless you want to be accused of telling the truth.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:09, Reply)

I tried knitting
but strained my wrist.

Or was that something else...
(porkinator is a Rock n Roll nerd!, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:03, Reply)

Sport is for thickoes.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 11:58, Reply)

I notice from your photo you have chunky thighs.
Did you play a lot of football?
(Tugnut Ex of this parish, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:00, Reply)

I have stupid jeans.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:00, Reply)

jeans genes.
(Tugnut Ex of this parish, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:01, Reply)

With regard to the hamstring, perhaps massaging with deep Heat or similar before stretching might help.
With regard to injuries, I had no problems with contact games like football or rugby, but squash was a bugger. The most painful injury occurring whan I was introducing a not quick but powerful frien to the game. I played a ball to the back of the court and moved to the T. It seemed ages had passed so I turned round to see if he had got to the ball, only to have the ball , which had been hit with great force smack me straight in the eye. It was this that made me realise that boxers wearing sunglasses after a fight is not just bruise hiding vanity.
(Cave Duck, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:02, Reply)

I fell off my pole from 4' up
and hit the floor head first. It hurt quite a lot. I can now do the move that I fell from though so it's all win again.

It scared the bejesus out of me when I read what happened to that girl who paralysed herself when she fell.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:14, Reply)

Have you hit your head often?
It would explain a lot
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:18, Reply)

that was weak
I expected more from you.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:21, Reply)

she is nervous about handing her notice in
It may have weakend her enough to mount a full attack.

be prepared for a Death Star being fully operational counter from TGB mind!!
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:24, Reply)

hopefully removing the badger from her hostile work environment
will remove the hostility from the badger.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:33, Reply)

Dream on

( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:33, Reply)

fuck you

( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:36, Reply)

Already told details of this
But I broke my leg (well, double spiral fracture, just below my left knee) while at a LARP, because I ran into a brick barbecue. It was 1am, in the Sherwood Forest, and I was dressed as a ninja.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:26, Reply)

Is it wrong
that I laughed reading this?
(porkinator is a Rock n Roll nerd!, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:27, Reply)

No, laugh away
I do!
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:29, Reply)

Worst. Ninja. Evvvva.

( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:37, Reply)

Just where the hell is Medical male when you need him?
Or, just as a crazy thought...why not ask a medical professional instead of the internet?
( fuck shit up the best you never had, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:28, Reply)

Ello Sailor

(Himjim died a little more inside on, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:41, Reply)

Avast me heartie

( fuck shit up the best you never had, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 12:51, Reply)

Because
I'm currently at work and haven't the chance to speak to a medical professional yet.

Just wanted some ideas from the MENSA fan club before consulting a doctor
(porkinator is a Rock n Roll nerd!, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 13:11, Reply)

Ooooohh
NHS direct is your friend
( fuck shit up the best you never had, Mon 27 Sep 2010, 13:18, Reply)