Injury Risk Reduction

Understanding Injury Risk Reduction

Due to the unpredictable and often chaotic nature of sport, unfortunately not all injuries can be avoided. However, research tells us we can significantly reduce the risk of certain injuries through use of appropriate injury risk reduction practices.

What is Injury Risk Reduction?

Injury risk reduction (commonly referred to as injury prevention) is often delivered in pre-season as a handful of strength-based exercises, but it is useful to consider its function more broadly. Simply put, injury risk reduction involves reducing the potential risks of sporting involvement.

For athletes, this means wearing the appropriate gear, playing by the rules, and preparing your body for the demands of your sport. To support this process, access to robust injury risk reduction practices has been shown to be effective in significantly reducing injury rates across sports. Preventative methods generally include a sport-specific warm-up and a selection of strength and plyometric exercises delivered in a structured and progressive way.

For a range of options that can help you to prepare for sport, check out our exercises or head to our Performance Enhancement resources.

Primary Injury Prevention
Primary injury prevention refers to avoiding an initial injury and is an important factor in reducing recurrent injuries and minimising any long-term impacts on ability. When it comes to reducing injury risk, helping players develop strength and capacity helps form a solid foundation. For more information on primary injury prevention, click here

Recovery

To effectively adapt to training loads and avoid injury as a consequence of excessive overload, it is important to implement healthy recovery strategies. A strong foundation for recovery can be achieved by doing the basics well, which means good nutrition and hydration, adequate sleep, and use of simple active recovery strategies. For more information on recovery, click here

Load Management

For ways to measure training efforts and for guidance on how to increase training over time to maximise performance and reduce risk of injury, check out our Load Monitoring and Management page, click here

Other Considerations:

Some other important aspects of injury risk reduction to consider are:

Environmental Factors

It is important to have a basic understanding of Australian weather and its impact on athlete wellbeing. Changes in temperature (hot or cold) have an impact on hydration requirements, with impairments to physical performance noted with even relatively small sweat losses.

Equipment and Facilities

While fairly standard practice, frequent checking of playing surfaces, sports equipment, and athlete gear goes a long way to reducing risk of injury. Also, be on the lookout for inadequate sun protection, poor lighting, air pollution, and poorly fitting gear with growing juniors and adolescents, particularly if they report pain or discomfort with sport.

Playing Factors

Although winning is typically the objective, endorsing fair play and a culture of sportsmanship helps to keep more players on the field by avoiding unnecessary suspension or injury due to foul play. Plus, it costs nothing to implement!

Injury Management and Early Referral

It is also important that we understand the potential warning signs and symptoms indicating potential injury that may call for further investigation. Things such as discomfort, pain, or swelling (particularly if severe or unchanging) may be signs of an underlying injury. While pain isn’t always cause for alarm (think of sore muscles after gameday), early referral to a medical professional is recommended for acute or chronic injury concerns. Timely treatment can support speedy recovery and prevent unnecessary time spent off the pitch.