Australian Football League (AFL) Players’ Experiences of, and Sense-Making around Injury to their Hamstring

Abstract

Hamstring injuries (HSI) are the cause of the highest number of games missed through injury in the AFL each year (16.6 matches per club). Recurrence rates are also high, at about 14%, with both of these figures remaining stable over the last ten years, causing significant economic and performance-based challenges. To date, most research has focused on the physical, rather than psychological, factors related to HSI. In sports injury research, the topic of ACL injury has received most research attention from a psychological perspective. Athletes' fear of re-injury has been found to be a significant predictor of return-to-sport (RTS) outcomes following ACL injury, and ‘psychological readiness' has been found to be the best predictor of RTS outcomes one-year following ACL surgery. The current exploratory qualitative study aimed to examine the nature of athletes' experiences of, and sense-making around, injury to their hamstring, with a focus on three phases: injury response, rehabilitation and return to sport. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 athletes from AFL clubs in two states. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, with two main themes identified: (1) When to stop, when to go - Players responses to hamstring injury and (2) Trust - The club has my back. The first theme describes players’ interpretations of pain and fear throughout the injury experience. The second theme discusses the central role that the medical team has in player experiences, both around injury understanding, but also throughout the rehabilitation and return-to-sport phase. Recommendations for future research are discussed.