Coaches' perspectives on implementing an evidence-informed injury prevention programme in junior community netball.

OBJECTIVE: For effective sports injury prevention, information is needed about the implementation context for interventions. This study describes coaches' feedback on the implementation of an evidence-informed injury prevention programme in community junior netball using coaches' perceptions and the RE-AIM framework. METHODS: A lower-limb injury prevention programme (Down to Earth; D2E), for teaching safe-landing techniques, was delivered to 31 coaches from 31 junior community netball teams in a 1-h workshop. Coaches then delivered a 6-week programme at team training sessions starting in the week before the competition season commenced. 65% of coaches completed a feedback survey 17 weeks after they had delivered the programme. RESULTS: Most (88%) coaches believed that D2E improved their players' ability to perform correct landing techniques in games and that players had retained these improvements over the season. The majority (83%) indicated that an improvement in player athletic attributes was the greatest advantage of D2E, followed by a reduction in injury risk. Identified barriers to implementing D2E were running out of time and very young players finding the drills too difficult. Coaches reported that they needed more ideas for training drills that could be incorporated into their programmes and believed that their own coaching training did not adequately prepare them to implement an injury prevention programme. CONCLUSIONS: Although coaches believed that D2E was effective in developing correct landing techniques, some modifications are needed to make it more suitable for younger players and coach education by accreditation courses could be improved to support the implementation of injury prevention programmes.

Acute effects of static stretching on hip flexor and quadriceps flexibility, range of motion and foot speed in kicking a football.

The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of static stretching in a warm-up on hip flexor and quadriceps flexibility as measured by a modified Thomas test and on range of motion (ROM) of the leg and foot speed at impact in kicking a football with maximum effort. Sixteen Australian Rules (AR) footballers performed two different warm-ups on different days. One warm-up involved five minutes of sub-maximum running followed by seven practice kicks, while the other also included 4.5 minutes static stretching of the hip flexors and quadriceps after the running. A modified Thomas test was conduced before and after each warm-up. Players performed maximum effort drop punt kicks into a net while being videotaped to determine the ROM of the kicking leg and foot speed at impact with the ball. There were no significant changes in flexibility (p > 0.05) as a result of either warm-up and there were no significant differences between the warm-ups in the kicking variables (p > 0.05). It was concluded that the Thomas test may not have been sensitive to possible acute changes in flexibility from the warm-ups, and that stretching had no influence on kicking ROM or foot speed, possibly because of the complexity of the kicking skill.

Kinetic analysis of landings in netball: is a footwork rule change required to decrease ACL injuries?

The purpose of the study was to investigate landings in netball to ascertain whether or not an extra step on landing would significantly alter the forces on the body and to investigate the landings that were least stressful on the body. Eighteen State or Under 21 netball players participated as subjects. The subjects performed five different landing conditions at two pass heights. The five landing conditions were three legal landings consisting of a pivot, a run-on and a two foot landing. The other two landings used an extra step technique for the pivot and run-on landings. Data were collected using two force plates. The data were analysed using an ANCOVA, with approach speed as the covariate. The range of values for peak vertical ground reaction force were from 3.53 to 5.74 BW and for peak braking force the range was from 0.83 to 1.75 BW. No significant differences were found between each respective legal and extra step techniques. The run-on techniques exhibited lower peak forces, longer attenuation times and lower loading rates than the pivot or two foot landing conditions. The data clearly showed that there were no advantages to be gained from taking an extra step for either the pivot or run-on landing techniques. The run-on technique of landing appears to be most beneficial to reducing loads on the lower limb. A change to the footwork rules cannot be recommended based on the results of this study.

Risk management models in netball.

Risk management strategies have been used in a wide range of sports. Many issues involved in the implementation of risk management models in sport have not been investigated especially the sport specific and location specific nature of such models. The aim of this study was to ascertain the usefulness of Occupational Health & Safety risk management (RM) models in a mainly voluntary sporting organisation and to investigate the requirements of a netball population in developing "user friendly" risk management plans. The industry RM plans were trialled in a rural setting at various netball associations over a six week period. After these trials focus groups and interviews were conducted and the trials evaluated. The requirements of the netball population for a RM plan were investigated using focus groups from regional and rural areas. The industry RM models presented were not generally accepted by the trial participants. They found that the level of expertise required did not exist in netball at the club/team level. The focus groups on the needs of netball for a user friendly model brought out a number of issues including the specific needs of rural football/netball leagues, the need to develop strategies for all levels of netball (coach, player, umpire, administrator). Barriers to the uptake of risk management models were discussed. An effective RM plan can be developed for voluntary sports associations but they must be specific to the sport and flexible. The RM plan must also take into account the barriers to implementation for each sporting culture.

Instrumentation considerations of a clinical and a computerized technique for the measurement of foot angles.

Measurement of the foot angles either directly from the patient, from video images, or from radiographs is integral to podiatric clinical practice to confirm diagnoses and to plan, prescribe, and monitor treatment protocols. The reliability, precision, and accuracy involved in any measured value limits the validity and usefulness of the measurement to optimal patient management. Studies are described that ensured the accuracy and validity of the standard clinical tool, the universal goniometer (UG), by applying a calibration protocol. These same calibration angles were then measured by a computer-assisted human movement analysis system, the Ariel Performance Analysis System (APAS). The APAS was found to overestimate consistently the UG angular measures by less than 1 degree and this amount of error was considered clinically irrelevant. The angular results obtained by a clinician and a technician using the APAS on two separate days were tested and were found to be comparable and reliable to within 1 degree, and thus the analysis was deemed to be of excellent reliability and precision. The study found that clinicians could establish the accuracy and validity of their instruments by means of simple calibration, and that computer measures could be repeated on patients by a clinical or a technician. The simple calibration procedure described will assist the clinician to ensure that the measures obtained in the clinical setting have minimal measurement error and that the values can be confidently used to make decisions and draw clinical inferences.