Sprinting and hamstring strain injury: Beliefs and practices of professional physical performance coaches in Australian football

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to establish beliefs and practices of physical performance coaches regarding sprinting and Hamstring Strain Injury (HSI) in Australian Rules football.

Designs: Delphi-validated questionnaire.

Setting: Online.

Participants: Eighteen high-performance managers of the Australian Football League.

Main outcome measures: Descriptive statistics were collected to establish experience; central themes were established for the analyses of the beliefs and practices.

Results: Nine (50%) physical performance coaches responded to an invitation to complete the questionnaire. Participants held an undergraduate degree and had 9.2 ± 4.3 years of experience. Accelerations (n = 9), maximum speed sprints (n = 9) and running with hip flexion (n = 7) were the most common activities associated with HSI. Coaches believed sprinting, eccentric strength training and proper periodisation were effective strategies to reduce HSI risk. There's a disparity between beliefs and practices when using GPS to monitor sprinting, however, all coaches reported regular exposure to sprint training across both pre and in-season. Overstriding (n = 9) and pelvic instability (n = 6) were identified as key flaws in running mechanics.

Conclusions: This information can be used to improve training strategies, whilst these findings indicate further investigations into sprint training and running mechanics for HSI risk reduction.

Keywords: Australian football; Coaching; Hamstring; High-speed running; Injury prevention.