Injury prevention programmes in team sports: how to

improve implementation and adherence?

François Delvaux, PT, PhD

University of Liege, Belgium

Injury prevention strategies
in team sports
• Sport rules & policies
• Education
• Fair play
• Athlete’s environment
• Load management
• Sleep quality & quantity
• Athlete wellbeing
• Food & hydration
• Equipment
• Exercise
• …
 • Sport rules & policies
Injury prevention strategies • Education
in team sports • Fair play
• Athlete’s environment
• Load management
• Sleep quality & quantity
• Athlete wellbeing
• Food & hydration
• Equipment
• Exercise
• …

Injury Prevention Exercise Programmes

Injury Prevention Exercise Programmes - IPEPs
aim to reduce the occurrence of injuries by physically preparing athletes
for the stresses encountered during physical activity

Muscle strength Balance

Running/jumping/
COD technique IPEPs Plyometrics

Core stability Agility

Bizzini 2015, Emery 2015, Mandelbaum 2005

IPEPs

« Universally
applicable injury
prevention solution »
IPEPs
 IPEPs

Elaboration of an Large-scale dissemination Injury risk reduction

efficacious IPEP to end-users in the real life
IPEPs
 IPEPs
Why doesn’t the plan work?

Too low level of adoption of IPEPs by the end-users

in the real life to expect any impact on injury risk.

Even when:
• The IPEP has been widely disseminated
• The IPEP is (well-)known by the end-users
• The end-users understand the benefits of the IPEP

Ageberg 2022, Verhagen 2019, DiStefano 2017, McKay 2016, Donaldson 2016
Why aren’t efficacious
IPEPs adopted?
 Listen to & understand
the voices of end-users

Deliverers = coaches Beneficiaries = athletes

 Coaches’ overall positive attitude
towards injury prevention training
 On the other hand,
end-users also see
IPEPs as :

• Boring, repetitive,
monotonous
• Lacking of sport specificity &
too static
• Insufficiently supporting
performance goals
• Time consuming
• Not enough progression levels
• Not challenging
• …

O’Brien 2016, Lindblom 2018, Norcross 2016


Misalignment between
IPEPs & end-users needs/goals
Instead of
expecting high compliance to
traditional IPEPs,
Could we address these elements
to fit with the expectations
of end-users in order to build a
better adherence to injury
prevention exercises ?
On the other hand,
end-users mostly see
IPEPs as :
• Boring, repetitive,
monotonous
• Lacking of sport specificity &
too static
• Insufficiently supporting
performance goals
• Time consuming
• Not enough progression levels
• Not challenging
• …
O’Brien 2016, Lindblom 2018, Norcross 2016
Core stability
Core stability
Core stability
Core stability
Core stability
 Agility &
plyometrics
 • Boys
Context • 16 years old
• Handball players
• Recreational athletes
• No past serious injury
Unique & not interchangeable • Equipment: cones, HB & tennis balls,
elastic bands, card game
• …
Generalizability
 Optimisation of adherence
• Co-create the programme with end-users

I-PROTECT:
Implementing injury
Prevention training 1. Research team preparation
ROutines in 2. Handball expert-based preparation
3. End-user evaluation
TEams and
Clubs in youth
Team handball
 Optimisation of adherence
• Co-create the programme with end-users
• Develop end-users education & creativity for injury prevention

 Stimulate athlete’s creativity & autonomy:

• « How can you make this exercise more challenging for yourself ? »
• « Let me know when you’re ready to move
to the next level of this exercise »
 Optimisation of adherence
• Co-create the programme with end-users
• Develop end-users education & creativity for injury prevention

 Stimulate athlete’s creativity & autonomy:

• « How can you make this exercise more challenging for yourself ? »
• « Let me know when you’re ready to move
to the next level of this exercise »
 Optimisation of adherence
• Co-create the programme with end-users
• Develop end-users education & creativity for injury prevention
• Innovations are welcome
 Optimisation of adherence
• Co-create the programme with end-users
• Develop end-users education & creativity for injury prevention
• Innovations are welcome
• Language matters: injury prevention is not injury prevention

Injury
Performance
« Solidity » prevention
« Robustness »
« Be Stronger »
« Strong woman/man »
Performance &
Injury prevention
Take-home message
Expecting compliance to « plug & play » IPEPs

Building adherence to context-friendly IPEPs

• Listen to & understand end-users voices

• Co-creation with end-users
• Exercises oriented to performance goals
• Variations & fun

fdelvaux@uliege.be
Thanks for your attention !