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Prevention and Rehabilitation of Hamstring Injuries pp 145–163Cite as

Hamstring Injury Prevention and Implementation

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Abstract

Currently, effective hamstring injury prevention is primarily based on exercise strategies. The FIFA 11+ is a general strength and conditioning programme that has been shown to reduce injuries in football, including hamstring injuries. Many hamstring injury prevention studies have shown that eccentric hamstring strength training can reduce the risk of sustaining a hamstring injury, with a particular emphasis in the literature on the Nordic hamstring exercise. However, exercise-based prevention can only be effective when adhered to. Meticulous planning, a gradual increase of eccentric training loads for each individual athlete and stimulating adherence through knowledge transfer are key components to make hamstring injury prevention work in a practical setting. So far, evidence from studies that have investigated stretching and plyometric interventions indicate that these interventions do not seem to be effective at reducing hamstring injuries. Research on other types of preventive strategies, such as running drills, core stability training and sports-specific training, is currently insufficient, and the value of these approaches in hamstring injury prevention remains unclear. This chapter aims to provide a detailed understanding of the available evidence for hamstring injury prevention and the practical considerations around implementing these prevention strategies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sports Medicine Center – FIFA Medical Center of Excellence, Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB), Zeist, The Netherlands

    Nick van der Horst

  2. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Sports Orthopedic Research Center—Copenhagen (SORC-C), Amager-Hvidovre Hospital, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Kristian Thorborg

  3. School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    David Opar

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  1. Nick van der Horst
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  2. Kristian Thorborg
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  3. David Opar
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Correspondence to Nick van der Horst .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Sports Orthopedic Research Center—Copenhagen (SORC-C), Amager-Hvidovre Hospital, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Kristian Thorborg

  2. Discipline of Exercise Science, School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    David Opar

  3. School of Exercise and Nutrition Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Anthony Shield

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van der Horst, N., Thorborg, K., Opar, D. (2020). Hamstring Injury Prevention and Implementation. In: Thorborg, K., Opar, D., Shield, A. (eds) Prevention and Rehabilitation of Hamstring Injuries. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31638-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31638-9_6

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