Back In MotionEltham

A hamstring strain is the most common injury currently in the AFL. On average, there are 5.1 hamstring injuries per club, totaling an average of 18.5 matches missed per club¹. This could be particularly detrimental for a club on the brink of a finals berth.

Knowing that hamstring injuries are most common at elite level, it is fair to believe a similar pattern is followed at local level. It is safe to assume that you know someone at your club who has injured their hamstring at some point over the season – I know I unfortunately have done it many times!

The great news is that we know exactly how to reduce the chance of incidence!

Here are a few non-negotiables in hamstring injury prevention:

1. Load management and conditioning: Don’t skip your twice weekly trainings and expect to be 110% come Round 1. Your hamstrings need gradual conditioning to adapt to the new loads being applied to keep up with the high demands of football.

2. Warm-up: Start with some 15m kicks with a mate before training starts (no 50m barrels or snaps from the point post when you are cold!), and ensure you get in a solid dynamic warm-up before starting your drills component at training. A dynamic warm-up has shown to be more effective than a static warm-up for hamstrings ^[5].

3. Strengthening: any person playing football should be doing some strength exercises at least 3x per week to keep up with the high physical demands of football. There is amazing evidence for eccentric (lengthening) strength training in reducing injury occurrence. For optimal gains in each hamstring muscle, we must incorporate hip-dominant and knee-dominant exercises ^[3]. Examples of these may include:

1. Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs) (hip-dominant).
2. Arabesques (hip-dominant).
3. Single leg hamstring curl (knee-dominant).
4. NORDICS – Nordic hamstring curl – the holy grail of hamstring exercises (knee-dominant).
   NB: this exercise alone can reduce the rate of injury by up to 50% ^[2]!
   Here, at Back In Motion Eltham, we have Nordic hamstring curl equipment, please contact us if you’d like to know more or would like an assessment.
   **Please see your local health professional for a personalised program that fit your needs and goals.

Image Source: YLM Sports Science (2017)

4. Sprinting: Each player should be hitting their top speed in training at least twice per week. Most hamstring injuries occur when at maximum speed, so to prevent this, graded exposure to top speed at training is crucial. Sprinting also seems to have a protective effect on the hamstring muscles and tendons ^[4]. Again, if you skip training and go straight into top speed during a game, you are at a higher risk than your conditioned teammates.

Although being the most common injury in the AFL and football in general, a substantial amount can be done to prevent this from occurring. Let’s spend more time on the field kicking goals and less time on the sidelines; all it takes is a good approach!

If you do have a hamstring injury or would like to train for stronger hamstrings, book an appointment with one of our Physiotherapists or our Osteopath to begin! Call us on 9439 6776.

This article was written by Callum Randell, Physiotherapist at Back In Motion Eltham.

References:

1. AFL Injury Report 2019. Retrieved from the AFL website.
2. Al Attar, W. S. A., Soomro, N., Sinclair, P. J., Pappas, E., & Sanders, R. H. (2017). Effect of injury prevention programs that include the Nordic hamstring exercise on hamstring injury rates in soccer players: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 47(5), 907-916.
3. Bourne, M. N., Williams, M. D., Opar, D. A., Al Najjar, A., Kerr, G. K., & Shield, A. J. (2017). Impact of exercise selection on hamstring muscle activation. British journal of sports medicine, 51(13), 1021-1028.
4. Malone, S., Roe, M., Doran, D. A., Gabbett, T. J., & Collins, K. (2017). High chronic training loads and exposure to bouts of maximal velocity running reduce injury risk in elite Gaelic football. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 20(3), 250-254.
5. Rana, D. P., Samuel, S. E., Shetty, S., & D’souza, C. J. (2020). Immediate effect of static stretching versus dynamic stretching of the hamstring muscle in recreational college athletes.
6. YLM Sports Science (2017) [Image]. Retrieved from https://ylmsportscience.com/2017/11/24/strengthening-exercises-to-prevent-hamstring-injury-hip-dominant-vs-knee-dominant-exercises/