In the past year, sports fans have begun noticing their favorite players suffering more and more long term achilles injuries. In many cases, star players are sidelined for 10 months and are unable to return to the state they were once in. This has left fans wondering why athletes have become more susceptible to achilles tears.

Notable Athletes with Torn Achilles in the year 2025:

• Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers)
• Jayson Tatum (Celtics) 
• Damian Lillard (Bucks)
• Najee Harris (Chargers) 
• Steve Angeli (Syracuse) 

Overuse

The first primary cause of the increase in achilles injuries is overuse. In 2021, the NFL expanded their regular season which in turn has caused an increase in the playing time of star players. As for the NBA, in 2023, they made a rule change which requires players to have played 65 games during the season in order to qualify for an award. This is meant to incentivize players to put more time on the court.

From a fans perspective, this seems like a good thing. Senior at Hingham High School, Andrew Sullivan believes that “Both the NFL and NBA adding more games is very exciting. It will bring in more revenue for the leagues, and it will add more games for us fans to enjoy.” On the other hand, this has led to an increase in injuries, specifically a torn achilles, in both leagues. This increased workload puts stress on the tendon making it easier to tear.

Explosive Steps

The majority of the achilles injuries around the league comes from the explosive steps of athletes. Many athletes have a tendency to push off of their back foot to increase their acceleration. This is often referred to as a false step.

Hingham High School junior, Cole Palek shares his experience with this saying, “I have been trying to control my first step knowing the damage that it has done to some of the world’s best athletes.” For young athletes, it is important to correct this habit in order to protect from potentially long lasting injuries.

Common Misconception

People tend to believe that turf fields have been one of the main causes of achilles injuries. In reality, any field or court can cause these injuries. Although turf fields can cause injuries like torn ACLs, torn achilles are a result of the overuse of athletes and the tendency to rely on false steps.