Coaches' attitudes to injury and injury prevention: a qualitative study of Irish field hockey coaches

'We may need some help; we are just parents who have chosen to engage in football': a qualitative study on amateur coaches' experiences of use of and support for injury prevention training in Sweden

INTRODUCTION

Achieving sufficient adherence with injury prevention exercise programmes is a challenge. The aim was to explore how amateur football coaches experience the use of and support for injury prevention training using the Knee Control programmes as examples.

METHODS

Semistructured interviews with 20 amateur football coaches around experiences of injury prevention training, facilitators and barriers, and perceived support, analysed with qualitative content analysis. Participants coached male and female, junior and senior teams. Experience of having used the Knee Control programmes was an inclusion criteria.

RESULTS

Four main categories were developed: Why are we really doing this?, How do we make it work?, What are our drivers and challenges? and What could be improved? Coaches were motivated for injury prevention training but faced challenges such as limited access to football grounds and low player motivation. To make the prevention programme work for them, they integrated it and used exercises in the pauses during football-specific drills, or used as a warm-up. Many conducted prevention routines from an early player age. Coaches believed preventive training use could be further enhanced by education and practical support, and by football associations and clubs working together to reduce injuries.

CONCLUSION

Coaches were motivated and creatively worked with the prevention programme to make it fit their team. Even coaches with long-term experience of using prevention programmes wanted support, indicating that present implementation strategies targeting those about to start using prevention programmes should be complemented by continuous support for maintained use. These strategies should preferably target both coaches and players.

Coaches' experiences of injury prevention in youth elite athletes: An interview study of 10 coaches

INTRODUCTION

Injury prevention is important to reduce the high injury risk in youth elite athletes studying at sports high schools. Coaches are considered important in youth elite sports and injury prevention.

OBJECTIVES

The aim was to investigate perceptions and experiences of injury prevention among coaches at sports high schools.

METHODS

A manifest qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach was used based on ten semi-structured interviews with coaches who work at sports high schools.

RESULTS

An overarching theme "Coaches of youth athletes value injury prevention but have limited knowledge and support" was identified and five main categories were formed. Coaches perceived themselves to play an important role in injury prevention, yet they described limited time for knowledge acquisition and highlighted the close collaboration with other professions as a key in injury prevention.

CONCLUSION

A coach's knowledge and support are critical factors in injury prevention of youth elite athletes. Evidence-based as well as non-evidence-based approaches are used, and the biopsychosocial perspective was not always taken into consideration. A need for more interprofessional collaboration and knowledge acquisition regarding injury prevention is warranted.

A qualitative examination of injury prevention strategy and education in Ladies Gaelic football: Understanding the preferences of players and coaches

The high rates of injury in Ladies Gaelic football impact the wellbeing of players and are a major financial burden for the Ladies Gaelic Football Association. Effective injury prevention programmes have been developed for Gaelic games, but these are not currently widely adopted. The aim of this study was to qualitatively investigate adult Ladies Gaelic football players and coaches' preferences for injury prevention strategies and injury prevention education using a constructivist grounded-theory approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 currently active Ladies Gaelic football coaches and adult players. The core strategy preferences discussed by participants were the properties of an injury prevention programme, the role of stakeholders, strategy logistics and the need for guidance and support. If the uptake and long-term adoption of an injury prevention programme is to be maximised, the preferences of the players and coaches who will ultimately utilise the programme must be understood and integrated into a wider implementation strategy developed around their needs. For education preferences, the core categories identified were the focus of education, who needs education, the format, educator, roll-out strategy, and time required. Future educational strategies must incorporate the preferences of stakeholders into their design if they are to be successful in spreading injury prevention knowledge and achieving change. To give injury prevention strategies, programmes, and education the best chances at successful adoption, it is crucial that the preferences of end-users are addressed and implemented.

Barriers and facilitators to injury prevention in ladies Gaelic football: A qualitative study

OBJECTIVES

Injury rates have remained high in ladies Gaelic football over the last decade and treatment costs continue to increase significantly. Injury prevention programmes are a proposed solution and their efficacy has been demonstrated in Gaelic games, however, anecdotally their adoption is low. The aim of this study was to determine the barriers and facilitators to uptake, implementation, and long-term adoption of an injury prevention strategy for adult Ladies Gaelic football players and coaches.

DESIGN

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 participants (13 coaches, 10 players). Four coaches were at intercounty level and nine were at club level, while two players competed at intercounty and club level and eight played solely at club level. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.

RESULTS

Stakeholder attitudes, accessibility, education, communication, and injury prevention programme characteristics were perceived as key barriers to an injury prevention strategy succeeding. Injury prevention promotion, injury prevention programme characteristics, leadership, and communication, were identified as the main factors that would facilitate the success of a strategy.

CONCLUSIONS

By utilising the views of stakeholders, the initial uptake, adherence, and long-term adoption of an injury prevention strategy in Ladies Gaelic football may be maximised.

The knowledge and attitudes of field hockey athletes to injury, injury reporting and injury prevention: A qualitative study

OBJECTIVES

Researchers have often struggled to successfully implement injury prevention strategies in real-world practice. This is despite such strategies proving successful in reducing overall injury incidence and burden. It has been hypothesised that this may be because the behavioural and contextual factors related to sports injury are not fully understood. Such factors stem from multiple key stakeholders, including the athlete. The primary aim of this study was to investigate athletes' knowledge and attitudes towards injury, injury reporting and prevention, as well as some of the barriers that may impact the future implementation of prevention strategies.

DESIGN

Qualitative; with semi-structured interviews following an interpretivist approach.

METHODS

Twenty-two field hockey athletes, playing in the top-tier Irish Hockey League were interviewed. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, with three general dimensions containing six higher-order themes.

RESULTS

The findings highlighted that athletes have a varied understanding of injury, which tends to improve with experience. The reporting of injuries by athletes to members of the coaching staff was relatively poor. This may be due to limited resources and supports available to athletes which also cause challenges to injury prevention.

CONCLUSIONS

Future injury prevention strategies in field hockey need to account for athletes' varied understanding of what constitutes an injury. Furthermore, policy changes to influence potential barriers to injury may assist in preventing or reducing the number of injuries being sustained by athletes.

'I always considered I needed injury prevention to become an elite athlete': the road to the Olympics from the athlete and staff perspective

In this study, we explored the perspectives about sports injury prevention of Belgium Olympic level athletes, coaches, managers and healthcare providers from various Olympic sports. We conducted a qualitative study, including 17 semistructured interviews. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed by two independent coders through constant comparative data analysis based on Grounded Theory principles. Our findings overview the athlete's journey to becoming an elite athlete, and how an elite sports context influences and modulates injury prevention practice at this level. Participants described an elite athletic career as a continuous and adaptive evolving process. According to athletes and all stakeholders, sports injury prevention is a learning process shaped by individual experiences. This embodiment provides athletes with insight into the importance of ownership of their bodies and self-awareness. Thus, experience, communication, empowerment, knowledge, education, the elite athlete context and sports culture, all play a fundamental role in sports injury prevention. Our findings support the importance of contextual factors in sports injury prevention in an elite sports context. These results also bring practical implications on how we should approach injury prevention differently along an athlete's journey to becoming an elite athlete. Considering specific contextual factors and influencing the process through awareness, communication and a shared responsibility is essential to develop a healthy and successful athlete.