Are you responsible for pre-season screening and injury prevention in a football setting?

Rob Swire has had 22 years of experience at Manchester United. BJSM asked him ‘How do you screen a professional football team pre-season?’ He shares how it’s done, as well as the challenges of being a team clinician and struggling to keep up with continuing education. In the most recent season, Manchester United have moved to include a software package to simplify their screening data entry, risk calculation and the offer of advice as to what might be appropriate exercises in specific settings. ‘I’m a pragmatic (physio) surfing on a wave of science’ was how Steyn Van der Bruggen described his role. Previously at West Ham and more recently at Moscow Dynamo, he shares his approach on how to evaluate players’ functional capacity and then address limitations with targeted exercise. See also: Impact energy attenuation performance of football headgear: http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/34/5/337.full Dehydration of football referees during a match: http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/37/6/502.full Reductions in pre-season training loads reduce training injury rates in rugby league players: http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/6/743.full The effect of pre-season dance training on physical indices and back pain in elite cross-country skiers: a prospective controlled intervention study: http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/2/148.full Community football players’ attitudes towards protective equipment—a pre-season measure: http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/4/426.full Concussion, risk assessment, and practical steps to reform: Learning from the Hugo Lloris example: http://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2013/11/21/concussion-risk-assessment-and-steps-to-reform-learning-from-the-lloris-example/