Achilles Tendon Injuries

It is pretty much always an overuse injury. I dealt with tendonitis in mine back when I was running. Never ruptured, but my calves would lock up and that led to more tension in the Achilles tendon. I also learned that I had some overpronation when I ran, and switching to a more support type running shoe helped with that. I would wake up with stiffness and soreness, and after walking around it would loosen up and be fine. But if I tried to run it would come back quickly. The only real solution is to rest it so it doesn't snap, but that is hard if you're on a multi million dollar contract to perform.

Also lack of a good warm up prior to competing can cause it. If the calves are tight and haven't been loosened up, stretched, foam roller etc and you have explosive movements and cuts, it doesn't take much to snap it. A rubber band can only go so far before breaking.