Injury prevention in community sport

Injury prevention in sport refers to measures and strategies implemented to minimise the harm to athletes during participation in their chosen sport. Participating in sport at any level involves high-impact activities and fierce competition which can lead to injuries. Injury prevention programs can safeguard the health and well-being of the athletes, but also enhance their performance and longevity in sport. Everyone involved in sport can play an important role in minimising sport-related injuries (coaches, players, parents, sports clinicians).

Injury prevention program completion = more time playing sport + less injuries + improved performance!

YES! There is strong evidence that demonstrates that injury prevention programs do work when they are completed each training session and on match day.

Injury prevention research in Australian community women’s football shows that the Prep To Play program completed before training and games can reduce knee injuries and concussions by 45% and 50% respectively.  In soccer the Perform+ (previously FIFA 11+) injury prevention program has been shown to  both decrease the incidence of injuries in male and female soccer players and improve performance¹.

The key elements of a successful injury program should include the following elements (in any order and context specific to your sport!)

Dynamic warm-up

Effective warm-up activities prepare the body for the strenuous demands of sport making it less susceptible to injury. Traditionally, warm-up activities have included laps around the oval/court and some static stretching, however the latest evidence shows the more dynamic the warm-up the better our bodies are ready for the demands of the game.

Typical activities include:

• • Jogging/running drills
  • Mobility
  • Deceleration
  • Change of direction/agility
  • Jumping and landing with & without contact
  • High speed running/springs
  • Balance

Strength

Strength exercises are at the core of many injury prevention programs. They help athletes build strength, improve joint control/stability and endurance. Strength training is vital to reduce the risk of various injuries like muscle strains, stress fractures and ligament injuries (ACLs etc). 

• Typical exercises target lower limb and core strength (change elements to suit the demands of your sport)
• Some sports may include/focus on upper limb or neck strengthening

Sport specific skills

• The movements and demands of each sport is unique and therefore drills replicating these movements will be different in each sport. These skills include hand-eye coordination, speed, strength, balance, agility etc. Sport-specific drills aim to replicate these skills allowing athletes to practice them outside of competition time and therefore minimise injuries.

Australian Rules Football

Prep-to-Play is an injury prevention program designed by the AFL and La Trobe University for women and girls playing Australian Football. The program focuses on reducing serious head and knee injuries by improving athlete muscle function and movement quality during change of direction and landing activities, and improving execution of ground balls, aerial contests, tackling and being tackled.

The Prep-to-Play program resources are readily available on the AFL website via Prep-To-Play – Play AFL.

The program includes 3 main elements; a dynamic warm-up, strength exercises and sport-specific skills.

Links to each of the resources in the program are below:

Prep-to-Play player manual

• Dynamic Warm-up
• Strength Exercises

Sport-specific skills

• Ground Balls
• Aerial Contests
• Coaching the Ball Carrier being tackled       
• Coaching the tackler

Soccer – FIFA Perform +

• Football Australia Perform+ | Football Australia

Netball – Netball KNEE

• The KNEE Program – Netball Australia

Rugby AU – Activate

• World Rugby ACTIVATE | Rugby Australia

Basketball/Volleyball (court sports) – SHRED (University of Calgary)

• Basketball Neuromuscular Training Resources | SIPRC – SHRED injuries | University of Calgary (ucalgary.ca)