West Ham's Andy Carroll 'without question' benefiting from yoga, says expert Sharon Heidaripour
Tuesday 14 February 2017 13:38, UK
Andy Carroll's prolific recent form shows he is reaping the benefits of practising yoga, says expert Sharon Heidaripour.
Carroll, 28, has been practising the ancient Indian discipline in recent years as he bids to sustain fitness and get back to his goalscoring best after a number of different injury setbacks during his career.
The striker missed West Ham's 2-2 draw with West Brom at the weekend, but had been in blistering form since returning from a knee injury at the end of last year, scoring four goals in four matches, including January's Goal of the Month for his spectacular effort against Crystal Palace last month.
"Absolutely without question Andy Carroll is reaping the benefits of yoga," football yoga guru Heidaripour told Sky Sports.
"I know he's been doing it for a few years now because he posted that photo of himself doing yoga on the beach in Dubai in 2014.
"You only need to look at his posture for that scissor kick he scored against Palace. Normally when a player tries to score a goal like that, the knee on the player's standing leg bends due to a lack of flexibility in the hamstring.
"But the fact that he could keep his standing leg so straight while executing that goal demonstrates how good his hamstring flexibility is.
"If the hamstring is tight, the knee will automatically bend because the straighter, the leg the greater the stretch on the hamstring.
"But in general, footballers practising yoga is growing."
Heidaripour was a right winger for Swedish Damallsvenskan side Jitex before training as a sports therapist after her football career was cut short due to a series of knee injuries.
She spent eight years working at the academies of Arsenal and Chelsea, and four years working with FIFA referees at tournaments including the 2015 Women's World Cup and the football competition at the London 2012 Olympics.
After doing a master's degree in football rehabilitation, Heidaripour undertook a yoga teaching qualification in Mexico and now delivers football-specific yoga sessions to a host of professional players and clubs.
"I've been practising yoga religiously for well over a decade now and I am very much a believer in the whole yogic, holistic lifestyle," the football yogini added.
"Some of the injured players I have done yoga with have returned to action months ahead of schedule but of equal importance is the fact that yoga helps to prevent injury.
"The link between yoga and football is definitely getting stronger and I foresee a growth in independent programmes tailored and personalised according to the player.
"But for footballers to fully reap the benefits of yoga, the instructor needs to have an understanding of football or come from a sporting background in order to make it specific and put all the components together.
"Having one or the other will simply not allow football players to fully harness the benefits of yoga."
