Systematic development of a tennis injury prevention programme
- Authors: Pas, Haiko , Bodde, Stefan , Kerkhoffs, Gino , Pluim, Babette , Tiemessen, Ivo , Tol, Johannes , Verhagen, Evert , Gouttebarge, Vincent
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine Vol. 4, no. 1 (2018), p. 1-7
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- Description: Introduction Despite an injury incidence of up to 3.0/1000 hours of play, there are no published tennis injury prevention programmes. This article aims to describe the developmental process of TennisReady, an e-health tennis-specific injury programme for adult recreational tennis players. Five-step approach A bottom-up, five-step approach was used with the Knowledge Transfer Scheme as a guideline. During the first step, a problem statement among targeted users was carried out. 475 (partially) completed surveys and group interviews (n=8) revealed a preference for an app-based prevention intervention of 10-15 min. As a second step, a systematic review was performed to identify prevention strategies in tennis. None were found. In step 3, during two expert group meetings (n=18), the findings of the first two steps were discussed and goals were formulated. Relevant and potential exercises for the programme were discussed. A subgroup of a total of six physical therapists, physicians and trainers developed the content of the programme in step 4. Step 5 included an evaluation of the exercises in 33 recreational tennis players. Participants evaluated the exercises during training sessions with trainers involved in the programme's development or their colleagues. Participants evaluated the programme through standardised surveys or group interviews. Based on this evaluation, the programme was adjusted by altering exercises and frequencies, and it was evaluated in a second target group (n=27). The second evaluation did not result in any major changes to the final prevention programme. Conclusion Through a five-step approach guided by the Knowledge Transfer Scheme, we developed an e-health tennis-specific prevention programme for adult tennis players. This 10 min intervention will require testing in a randomised controlled setting.
Using principles of motor learning to enhance ACL injury prevention programs
- Authors: Gokeler, Alli , Benjaminse, Anne , Seil, Romain , Kerkhoffs, Gino , Verhagen, Evert
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Sports Orthopaedics and Traumatology Vol. 34, no. 1 (2018), p. 23-30
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- Description: Findings from efficacy studies have shown decreased in ACL injury rates in (predominantly female) athletes participating in prevention programs. Given the inherent higher ACL injury risk for females, the majority of intervention studies, have focused on female athletes. Subsequently, the content of exercises in ACL prevention programs is directed to target the modifiable ACL injury risk factors for female athletes. The literature is generally scarce regarding the efficacy of prevention programs to reduce ACL injuries in male athletes. In general, reduction of ACL injury rates seem to be limited to (young) female athletes and male athletes playing at low level of sports. Typically, ACL injury prevention programs entail a combination of plyometrics, strength training, agility and balance exercises. A problem is that improvements of movement patterns are not sustained over time. The reason may be related to the type of instructions given during training. Encouraging athletes to consciously control knee movements during exercises may not be optimal for the acquisition of complex motor skills. In the motor learning domain, these type of instructions are defined as an internal attentional focus. An internal focus, on one's own movements results in a more conscious type of control that may hamper motor learning. It has been established in numerous studies that an external focus of attention facilitates motor learning more effectively due to the utilization of automatic motor control. Subsequently, the athlete has more recourses available to anticipate on situations on the field and take appropriate feed forward directed actions. The purpose of this manuscript was to present methods to optimize motor skill acquisition of athletes and elaborate on athletes’ behavior.