Preventing Hamstring Injuries During Sprinting

In-Season Hamstring Prep: Building Braking Capacity Most hamstring issues in-season are not caused by a lack of strength. They occur when the hamstrings cannot tolerate or coordinate high-velocity eccentric braking during sprinting—especially late swing. This in-season prep series is designed to maintain force tolerance, timing, and stiffness in the exact positions where hamstring injuries occur, without accumulating soreness or residual fatigue. The progression moves from long-lever isometric force acceptance to rapid limb switching and braking, mirroring the demands of max-velocity sprinting. Supine Long Lever Hamstring Bridge PIMA This is the foundation of the series. With the knees near extension, the hamstrings are placed at long muscle lengths while producing high isometric force through the posterior chain. Key qualities developed: • Long-length force tolerance • Posterior pelvic control • Reduced reliance on lumbar extension Sprint relevance: Late swing occurs with the knee nearly extended and the hamstrings under maximal strain. This drill restores confidence and capacity in that position without the cost of eccentric soreness. Single-Leg Supine Long Lever Hamstring Bridge PIMA Now we introduce asymmetry and limb specificity. Single-leg loading increases: • Relative force demands • Pelvic control requirements • Limb-to-limb accountability Why this matters: Sprint mechanics are unilateral. This drill exposes deficits that bilateral work can hide, ensuring each hamstring can tolerate long-length force independently. Supine Double-Leg Hamstring Catches This is where the series transitions from static capacity to dynamic braking. The athlete rapidly accepts load into knee extension and “catches” the position, emphasizing: • Fast eccentric deceleration • Posterior chain stiffness • Controlled energy absorption Sprint transfer: This closely mirrors the rapid braking action required during late swing as the foot prepares for ground contact. Single-Leg Supine Hamstring Catches Here we narrow the focus to unilateral eccentric braking. Single-leg catches demand: • Faster force acceptance • Greater pelvic stability • Precise timing at high strain rates Why it’s critical in-season: Most hamstring injuries occur during unilateral sprint actions, not symmetrical positions. This drill builds tolerance without excessive volume or fatigue. Single-Leg Supine Hamstring Switches This is the most sprint-specific element of the prep. Rapid alternating catches and releases introduce: • High-speed limb switching • Coordinated eccentric-to-concentric transitions • Trunk and pelvis stability under speed Sprint relevance: This closely resembles stride-to-stride transitions at max velocity, where timing errors—not strength deficits—lead to tissue overload. How I Use This In-Season • Pre-practice: prime braking capacity before sprint exposure • Intra-lift: paired with speed or power work • Micro-dose sessions: high-velo non-lift days

Pre-season Strength/Prehab routine to oil the engine 1️⃣ Ex 1 emphasises eccentric neuromuscular control at the hip and targets the lateral muscle sling system. The hip joint musculature is exceptionally important for adequate pelvic and trunk stabilization and control during sport-specific movements. 2️⃣ Exs 2 & 7 strengthen the cross-body connection, hip-pelvic control and hip-spine dissociation. Improved core stability results in an enhanced ability to dissociate the hip from the spine. This means more hip movement can be produced without affecting the neutral lumbopelvic position (Moreside 2012). 3️⃣ Ex 3: Unstable surface training can decrease the latency time between perturbation and contraction of the stabilising muscles (Lowery 2014, Kay 2012). Unstable surface training has also been shown to reduce the incidence of ankle, knee and back injuries (Durall 2009, Carter 2006). Integrating some unstable surface work can help prevent injuries. 4️⃣ Ex 4 improves multi planar movement quality, horizontal force production and the ability to change direction. The orientation of force production onto the ground is more important to performance than its amount (Morin 2011). 5️⃣ Ex 5 combines deceleration with perturbation to enhance the efficiency of self-stabilising processes. High-speed eccentrics result in hypertrophy of the fast-twitch fibres, higher contraction velocities and more intrinsic muscle power (Stasinaki 2018). This increases the robustness against impact and perturbations during high-speed movements. 6️⃣ Exs 6 & 8 combine full active ROM with eccentric overload. Full ROM strength training is far superior to static stretching at increasing active ROM (Wyon 2013). Active ROM is also a better predictor of performance and the propensity for injury (Twitchett 2011). Full ROM with an eccentric overload has a bigger impact on the mechanical muscle properties and will therefore elicit better results and transfer to athletic performance.   7️⃣ Ex 8 trains explosive posterior pelvic tilting. An explosive posterior tilt enables large joint forces at the hip and facilitates an efficient transfer of power during sprinting (Sado 2017,2019). The inability to maintain a stable posterior tilt during sprinting causes premature hamstring fatigue, increases the susceptibility to injury and impairs sprinting biomechanics (Small 2009).  8️⃣ Ex 9 is an effective exercises to target the long head of the biceps femoris, which is the affected muscle in 80% of the hamstring injuries. The machine leg curl loads the semitendinosus more than the biceps femoris (McAllister 2014, Ono 2010). The stability ball leg curl (ex. 11) targets the biceps femoris over the semitendinosus and has a high biceps femoris/medial hamstring activation ratio (Dooley 2020, Messer 2018, Bourne 2017). #prehab #injuryprevention #strengthtraining #strengthandconditioning #exercisescience #exerciseismedicine #exercisetips #preseason #physicaltherapy

Less injuries is good. Less severe injuries is better. The chart speaks for itself. No causal claims here. Just outcomes. What is worth discussing is this: 👉 injury severity (days missed) is ultimately about how well risk is managed — before, during and after competition. Over the last years, clubs in LALIGA have been regularly exposed to evidence-based insights translated into practical decisions, not generic recommendations — thanks to the collective contribution of many researchers and the ongoing work of the LALIGA Football Intelligence & Performance area in translating scientific evidence into practical knowledge for clubs. Here are 10 real questions we work on with clubs. Each one is backed by a 📄 Paper: 1️⃣ What weekly load + match demands actually trigger muscle injury risk? → Fatigue accumulation + very short peaks of high-speed running is the most common pre-injury pattern. 📄 Paper: https://lnkd.in/e3-9jY9J 2️⃣ Why do players with low recent match exposure get injured more often? → Training load does not replace match exposure when it comes to high-intensity tolerance. 📄 Paper: https://lnkd.in/e6FUuGqX 3️⃣ Can a single 5-minute peak trigger a hamstring injury? → Yes. Injury risk concentrates in very short high-speed peaks, not in long workloads. 📄 Paper: https://lnkd.in/exC2T5Sw 4️⃣ What real movement patterns precede hamstring injuries in LALIGA? → Sprint (often curved) + abrupt deceleration + game interaction: prevention must look like the game. 📄 Paper: https://lnkd.in/eFZvVkbz 5️⃣ How does time lost due to injury affect high-intensity performance on return? → Longer absences mean greater losses in max speed, acceleration and deceleration. 📄 Paper: https://lnkd.in/e8YjFTxM 6️⃣ After hamstring injury, when is performance really recovered? → Not at medical clearance. Recovery happens after several matches with progressive exposure. 📄 Paper: https://lnkd.in/eHyVdh-C 7️⃣ Does injury severity matter for post-injury performance? → Max speed is the most sensitive marker; “intensity per minute” can be misleading. 📄 Paper: https://lnkd.in/epmu876x 8️⃣ Does ACTN3 genotype influence injury risk and high-intensity output? → Yes. Some players show higher muscle injury incidence under the same exposure. 📄 Paper: https://lnkd.in/edX7zEB7 9️⃣ Does COL5A1 change ACL risk or just the injury pattern? → Risk may be similar, but the mechanism and context differ — prevention should adapt. 📄 Paper: https://lnkd.in/ee8x89wx 🔟 Did extreme congestion after COVID increase injury incidence? → Not necessarily, when load progression and competition rules are well managed. 📄 Paper: https://lnkd.in/eFnvH96n

⚽️ Prehab in football isn’t about adding 45 minutes of physio-style drills before every session. The reality is that players (and coaches) won’t buy into that. But if you want to actually reduce injuries, you need a system that works on two levels. What I term: 🔹 Daily activation drills - short, low-load movements to switch the system on. 🔹 Capacity builders - heavier evidence-based exercises, placed smartly in the MD-week to build real robustness. Here’s how I'd structure it across a squad: ⚽ Daily Activation (8–10 min, every training) • Mini-band walks - 2×10m each way • Adductor squeeze with ball - 2×20s • Glute bridge march - 2×8 each side • Pogos - 2×15 • World’s greatest stretch – - 2×5 each side 👉 Low soreness, zero equipment headaches, repeatable every session. ⚡ Capacity Builders (10 min, 2×/week: MD-4 & MD-3) ° Nordic Hamstrings - 2–3×4–6 ° Copenhagen Adductions - 2–3×8/side ° Single-leg balance (perturbations) - 2×30s/leg ° Bent-knee calf raise hold - 3×8 (2s pause) ° Sprint exposures - 3–4 × 30m @ ≥90–95% MSS, full recovery 👉 These are the big rocks with strong evidence behind them for reducing hamstring, groin, and ankle injuries. 📅 My Weekly Flow Example (ie., Sat match, Wed off) Mon (MD-5): Activation only Tue (MD-4): Activation + Capacity Thu (MD-3): Activation + Capacity Fri (MD-2): Activation only Sat (Match): Neural primer Sun (MD+1): Mobility / light ankle work 💡 My Bottom line: Daily activation gets the system switched on, BUT, capacity work builds armour players need! Put them together, delivered consistently, and you’ve got a prehab system that players actually buy into!

🛑 Stop Guessing. Your Data Predicted This Hamstring Tear Weeks Ago 💬 Want the dashboard used for this analysis? Comment “SPRINT” and I’ll send it to you. In modern football, training high-speed running is no longer optional — it’s essential. Yet, many training environments rely heavily on: • small-sided games • possession drills • reduced spaces 👉 The problem? These methods often fail to expose players to high-speed and sprint demands. So while we improve technical and tactical aspects, we may be underpreparing players for the most demanding moments of the game. 📌 Case study insight: I analyzed a real hamstring injury case using GPS data and a custom dashboard. The injury occurred exactly at the moment the player reached his seasonal peak speed, after weeks of insufficient weekly load — both in terms of distance covered at high speed and exposure to maximal velocity. 📊 Here’s what the data showed in the 30 days before the injury: ➡️ Match demands: • Avg Max Speed: 30.9 km/h • Top Speed: 34.4 km/h • Avg Sprint Distance: 155 m ➡️ Training exposure: • Avg Max Speed: 24.3 km/h • Top Speed: 29.3 km/h • Avg Sprint Distance: 7 m 📉 Last 15 days before injury: • Total Sprint Exposure: 33 m ⚠️ The issue wasn’t total load. It was the gap between training and match demands. The player was exposed in competition to: 👉 maximal speeds 👉 high eccentric stress …without ever being prepared for it in training. 💡 The reality: Sprint isn’t the problem. Lack of sprint exposure is. 🧠 Key takeaway: If your players reach >95% of their Vmax in matches… but never do it during the week… 👉 you’re not preparing them — you’re exposing them. 🎯 Practical implications: ✔️ Monitor High-Speed Running & Sprint as injury metrics ✔️ Ensure weekly exposure to >90–95% Vmax ✔️ Individualize thresholds (avoid absolute values) ✔️ Integrate running-based work when needed #FootballPerformance #SportsScience #SprintPerformance #ForceVelocity #StrengthAndConditioning #HSR #Highspeedrunning #Sprint #hamstring #hamstringinjury #hamstringprevention #DataAnalysis #PowerBI #SoccerScience #ReturnToPlay #PlayerProfiling #CFCInsights #dataviz #datafam #powerbi #tableu #Vizathon #sportsanalytics #sportsscience #gpsanalysis #soccer #matchanalysis #traininganalysis #soccerdrills #sportHorizon #performanceanalysis #datascience #performanceInsights #scouting #soccerscout #monitoring #trainingsoccer #hamstring #injuryhamstring #peakofspeed #sprintraining #sprintsoccer #speedtraining #PreparazioneAtletica #LiverpoolFc #NeuromuscularEfficacy #Loadmonitoring #ACC #DEC

Hamstring injuries, especially to the biceps femoris long head, remain a leading cause of time-loss in elite soccer. Our understanding of how hamstrings behave across different running tasks and during targeted strength exercises provides critical insights for injury mitigation and rehabilitation strategies. Running Mechanics; Speed & Direction Matter: -       As running speed increases, hamstring EMG activity rises, especially in late swing, peaking over 120% MVIC in some individuals. -       The BFlh is highly active and susceptible to strain as it lengthens under load during late swing. -       Crucially, EMG patterns are highly individual yet consistent across speeds, highlighting the importance of personalized rehab and neuromuscular retraining. -       Turning at speed introduces asymmetrical hamstring loading. -       The outside leg exhibits more braking and greater horizontal forces; the inside leg produces more vertical force with altered joint kinematics. -       Curved sprinting increases lateral trunk lean, pelvic rotation, and ground contact time differences—factors that affect hamstring load distribution and injury risk. -       Rehab must include multiplanar, directionally specific sprint exposure. Exercise Selection Matters: Nordic Hamstring Curl - Produces the highest peak hamstring forces - Causes the greatest fascicle lengthening, especially in the semimembranosus and short head of the BFlh - Highly effective for eccentric strength and increasing fascicle length - Unmatched for eccentric overload and fascicle lengthening, making it ideal for fascicle remodeling. Single-leg Roman Chair - Produces moderate peak forces - Mimics quasi-isometric contraction during late swing phase - Targets BFlh long head and semimembranosus more effectively - Suitable for mid-stage rehab and controlled load progression (transition phases and load tolerance) Single-leg Deadlift - Produces lower peak forces, but with greater range of motion - Leads to the highest mean fascicle length, promoting hip-dominant adaptation - Engages the glutes more while still loading hamstrings - Ideal for late-stage rehab, reconditioning, and return-to-play prep - Support hip-dominant mechanics, useful for terminal rehab and reconditioning. Applied Takeaways: - Rehab Progressions Must Reflect Individual EMG Profiles: Each athlete displays unique activation patterns—assess and program accordingly - Introduce Running Early: Submaximal running can help restore neuromuscular patterns without overloading healing tissue - Don’t Neglect Curved Sprinting: Prepare hamstrings for multidirectional force vectors seen in match play—especially in fullbacks and wingers https://lnkd.in/g_9dxske https://lnkd.in/gyuGnCpv https://lnkd.in/gt23Enza

Participation in athletics provides many benefits for an athlete’s health and athletic performance but is also associated with the unfortunate consequence of potential injury. Soft tissue injuries can be very frustrating to the athlete. This is especially true of hamstring injuries. Fascicle (a bundle of muscle fibers surrounded by connective tissue that make up skeletal muscle) length is a significant indicator of muscle’s capacity for force generation. When injured, the soft tissue damage results in the consequential shortening of fascicles due to the ensuing healing process of the body. Therefore, a component of the athlete’s sports rehabilitation should include the re-establishment of fascicle length. Fascicle lengthening transpires via the application of appropriately prescribed exercise. Exercise results in an adaptation of the muscle to increase in the number of sarcomeres in series within the fascicle, resulting in a longer fascicle (muscle). One method to achieve fascicle length is through the application of eccentric exercise to strengthen the muscle in a lengthened position (Tyler 2014, Schmidt 2012). An increase in fascicle length brings about, (a) improved athletic performance as longer fascicles can enhance the muscle’s ability to store elastic energy thereby improving high velocity performance in activities such as jumping and sprinting, and (b) assists in injury prevention as the lengthened muscle is now working more efficiently while averting overstrain (overstretching of the fascicles/muscle) during athletic performance. One effective method to initiate hamstring fascicle lengthening is through the utilization of a cable column for eccentric exercise execution (see attached video). The athlete is positioned on their back at an appropriate distance from the cable column with the hip flexed at 90°.  With an ankle cuff attached to both the athlete and the cable, a partner passively flexes the knee to 90°. The athlete then actively and slowly extends (eccentrically) their knee with a suitably prescribed cable column weight intensity until achieving full knee extension. The athlete briefly maintains this weight loaded fully extended position followed by the partner passively returning the lower extremity to 90° of knee flexion to repeat the exercise for the prescribed number of repetitions. It may be necessary to initiate the eccentric cable exercise with a hip flexion position of less than 90° (i.e. 70° or 80°) to (a) conservatively introduce the exercise to the athlete, (b) assess the athlete’s tolerance during the eccentric exercise execution (i.e. pain or discomfort), and (c) eliminate the concern (fear) of performing the exercise with the injured extremity. The eccentric exercise is then appropriately progressed over time to be executed at 90°, 100°, and 110° of hip flexion respectively for continued enhancement of fascicle lengthening.

We’ve all heard the line: “Just add Nordics and you’ll fix hamstring injuries.” The Kansas MLB study shows there’s truth there, but it isn’t automatic. When their system rolled out a simple Nordic progression, the athletes who actually did the work didn’t experience a single hamstring injury that season — something the authors noted directly: “There were no hamstring injuries that occurred in the intervention group.” And the dose was surprisingly low: roughly three to four reps a week. But coaching reality is different than research design. Nordics aren’t plug-and-play, and they don’t scale evenly across athlete types. Skill guys often adapt quickly, but my big humans — especially offensive linemen — usually struggle to even reach the positions where the exercise targets what actually fails during sprinting. The paper reminds us that hamstrings break down in the late swing phase, when they’re loaded while lengthened trying to decelerate the knee. That’s the exact moment that demands what we call long-length eccentric resilience — the ability to control force when the muscle is stretched and under tension. Nordics can build that resilience, but only when athletes can access and control the right positions. That makes them an advanced skill, not a warm-up throw-in. So the takeaway isn’t “everyone should Nordic.” It’s that if you want to protect the hamstring where it actually fails, you need to train it in that position — long, loaded, and under control. General posterior-chain work won’t get you there, and sloppy Nordics aren’t the same exercise.

🆕‼️ Sprint Running Mechanics & Hamstring Injury Risk ‼️🆕 The link between sprint running mechanics and hamstring injuries has long been debated. Research has been limited by challenges in biomechanics testing and small sample sizes, making it difficult to draw clear conclusions. Our latest study in British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) helps bridge this gap by investigating whether sprint mechanics are associated with past and future hamstring injuries in professional footballers, using a practical and scalable methodology. Key Findings: ✅ Higher Sprint Mechanics Assessment Score (S-MAS) was associated with increased hamstring injury rates. ✅ Each 1-point increase in S-MAS was associated with a 33% higher injury rate. ✅ A score above 5.5 had a sensitivity of 78.6% and specificity of 65.4%. Assessing sprint mechanics in applied settings has historically been challenging due to limited practical methods. However, S-MAS provides a time-efficient solution, making regular in-season screening feasible for injury prevention and rehab. Since developing the score, we’ve worked with several clubs and organizations to establish intervention strategies and integrate it into screening and rehabilitation practices. More work to hopefully come alongside some collaborations with Jean-Benoit Morin Thomas Dos'Santos and others. Plus, a huge thanks to Sportsmith who have developed the S-MAS toolkit, offering a practical, step-by-step guide for implementing this method in real-world settings. 📄 If you’re interested in how the S-MAS can be used in screening and rehab strategies, check out our latest paper, have a listen to recent podcasts on the Pacey Performance Podcast and FSI or reach out to talk about its applications. https://lnkd.in/eZqREgN3

IMPROVING SPRINT MECHANICS FOR HAMSTRING INJURY PREVENTION‼️(field research) Myself and Chris Bramah have collaborated to design and deliver tailored individualised programming consisting of sprint running mechanics and gym based drills and exercises. The aim was to determine the impact of specific interventions on sprint running mechanics and hamstring injury rates. WHAT WE DID: S-MAS screening was performed 10 weeks apart. Each movement category was assigned 3 different run mechanics drills and gym based supplementary work was included as part of their physical programme. The incorporation of this work across the training model consisted of pre training prep, on field warm ups, prior to speed exposure, and within gym based physical development sessions. RESULTS 📊 Movement quality improved: Across the group we demonstrated average group level decrease in S-MAS by 1.7 ⬇️ Previous research in this area demonstrated an S-MAS score increase by 1 was associated with 33% increase in incidence risk of hamstring injury. Across our group, the improvements have been impactful and contributed to improvements in player availability and injury incidence⬇️ - 0 hamstring injuries within intervention period - 100% player availability within intervention group - 51% reduction in days missed to soft tissue injury compared to same stage of previous season KEY MESSAGES - Average completion rate was 65% throughout the intervention period. Elite football poses chaotic schedules. This places a real challenge to determine when this work can be conducted, and places a paramount on the art of selecting certain training modalities. Listen to the athlete, work along continuums, adapt where necessary while not losing sight of long term objectives. - When looking to develop mechanics, you may not change how the athlete moves completely. Instead look to shift within bandwidths to optimise strategy and improve movement quality. - It may not directly improve how the player moves in matchplay. However, it subsequently develops the structure and capacities of the tissues in practice. Potentially reducing mechanical strain when performing high speed running/sprinting. - Assessing strategy can allow you to determine clear priorities to develop the required tissue capacity. - The use of this model addresses inadequate prescription of running mechanics. Moving to an individualised approach utilising various run mechanics drills and gym based exercises. - The model prescribed sits within a holistic approach for injury prevention strategies. While working through this process, we have been able to identify further methods that can be drawn upon to have physical transfer and develop movement in each of the three sub categories. Happy to discuss and share ideas with anyone who has done similar work in this area. Looking forward to more work in this space 🙌🏻