ArticleBritish journal of sports medicine2026
Sprint running mechanics are associated with hamstring strain injury: a 6-month prospective cohort study of 126 elite male footballers.
Article in British journal of sports medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Comparative Effectiveness of Exercise Interventions for Hamstring Injury Prevention in Football Players: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.Sports medicine - open · 2026Pooled it
- Variability of the Sprint Step Movement Pattern and Its Association with Hamstring Injury Risk.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Hamstring Strength and Architectural Properties Are Associated with Running Biomechanics.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Hamstring injury risk in male professional football: do external training loads play a role?BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the association between sprint running biomechanics and sprint-related hamstring strain injury (HSI) in elite male football players.
methodsThis prospective cohort study recruited 126 professional male football players from eight clubs in the English football league, who were followed across a 6-month period. Maximal velocity sprint running videos (240 fps) were collected from five teams during preseason (June to August) and three teams during the in-season period (October to March) and subsequently assessed using the Sprint Mechanics Assessment Score (S-MAS) by a single, blinded assessor. Sprint-related HSI within the previous 12 months and any new MRI-confirmed sprint-related HSI were reported by club medical staff. Incidence rate ratios were calculated using a Poisson regression model to determine the association between S-MAS and new sprint-related HSIs.
resultsThere were 23 players with a previous sprint-related HSI and 17 new HSIs during the follow-up period, with 14 sprint-related injuries. S-MAS values were significantly greater among players with a previous HSI (median difference (MD): 1, p=0.007, 95% CI: 0 to 3) and those sustaining a new sprint-related HSI (MD: 2, p=0.006, 95% CI: 1 to 3) compared with uninjured players. Adjusting for age and previous injury found a significant association between the S-MAS and prospective sprint-related HSIs, with an adjusted incidence rate ratio of 1.33 (95% CI: 1.01 to 1.76) for each one-point increase in S-MAS.
conclusionsThis is the first study to identify an association between sprint running kinematics and prospective sprint-related HSI in elite male football players. Sprint running mechanics assessed using the S-MAS were associated with both past and future HSIs, with a 33% increase in the risk of a new HSI with every one-point increase in S-MAS. Given the association to injury, evaluating sprint mechanics within rehabilitation and injury prevention may be warranted.
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