A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLERS AWARENESS OF INJURY PREVENTION STRATEGIES

Players from five English professional football clubs completed a ques tionnaire containing 52 items relating to injury prevention practices and advice received on these issues. Responses were received from 55 p layers, which represents a mean response of 11 (4) and a response rate of 38 (14)% from each club (means (SD)). The main deficiencies in awa reness of injury prevention strategies for players were identified as: use of shin pads during training, carbohydrate intake before and afte r training and after matches, cool downs after training and matches, a nd flexibility work. These deficiencies indicate a need for wider educ ation of players in current injury prevention strategies.