The injury prevention myth – predicting, pretending, or preventing sports injuries? Episode #395

Predicting and preventing injuries is seen as the ‘holy grail’ of sports medicine. The literature is brimming with efforts to understand injury prevention, and popular buzzwords such as ‘artificial intelligence’ has seen the emergence of questionable methods to predict sports injuries. In this podcast, Dr Nicol van Dyk speaks to Dr Sean Carmody about current concepts in injury prevention and the validity of the evidence underpinning them. Nicol draws on the experience of his PhD investigating risk factors for hamstring injuries in professional football to forecast the future for preventive efforts in elite sport. Key resources discussed in the podcast have been included below, and if you want to hear more on the topic, Nicol will be presenting at the South African Sports Medicine Association Conference in October 2019. Key Resources: Why screening tests to predict injury do not work—and probably never will…: a critical review Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater; screening can identify meaningful risk factors for sports injuries Risk factors for hamstring in football - thinking fast and slow by Nicol van Dyk Short biceps femoris fascicles and eccentric knee flexor weakness increase the risk of hamstring injury in elite football (soccer): a prospective cohort study The quadrant of doom and hamstring injuries: sexy but too easy? The acute:chronic workload ratio predicts injury: high chronic workload may decrease injury risk in elite rugby league players The acute-chronic workload ratio: a critical appraisal Aspetar – Hamstring Issue The training—injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder?