RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Letting the cat out of the bag: athletes, coaches and physiotherapists share their perspectives on injury prevention in elite sports
JF British Journal of Sports Medicine
JO Br J Sports Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine
SP 871
OP 877
DO 10.1136/bjsports-2019-100773
VO 54
IS 14
A1 Caroline Bolling
A1 Saulo Delfino Barboza
A1 Willem van Mechelen
A1 H Roeline Pasman
YR 2020
UL http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/54/14/871.abstract
AB Objectives To explore how sports injury prevention takes place in elite sport practice and to describe the perspectives of athletes, coaches and physiotherapists regarding the most critical factors that help prevent injury in the elite sports context.Methods Qualitative study. Semistructured interviews with 19 international level athletes, coaches and physiotherapists, from different Olympic sports. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using comparative data analysis based on Grounded Theory.Results The participants perceived injury risk as an inherent part of elite sports, because athletes try to enhance performance by pushing their limits. Participants described injury prevention as a learning process that changed over time, based on their sports experience and the injuries that they had sustained along their career. Communication among the athletes, coaches and physiotherapists was described as a key component of the injury prevention process. Study participants emphasised the relevance of teamwork and shared responsibility. Performance was presented as the core of the athlete’s daily practice, indicating that injury prevention can be a means to that end but is not a goal in itself for this community.Conclusion Participants perceive injury prevention as part of elite sports and thus embrace the need for injury prevention. Injury prevention strategies in elite sports were described as a learning process, following the dynamic nature of training for maximal performance. Performance is the participants’ main goal.