Year
2024Credit points
5Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unitPrerequisites
Nil
Incompatible
EXSC651 Sports Injury Prevention , EXSC669 Exercise Rehabilitation for Return to Sports Performance
Teaching organisation
This unit consists of 75 hours of focused learning.
Unit rationale, description and aim
The ability to develop evidence-based, best practice, strategies to prevent sporting injury and return athletes to sport performance following injury, is essential in high performance sport. This requires understanding and interpreting injury epidemiology research as well as detailed knowledge of the aetiology, mechanisms, risk factors and prevention strategies of injuries. This unit will develop knowledge and critical thinking pertinent to the prevention of hamstring strain injuries, as well as integrating the use of current research, developed critical thinking, and the interpretation of that research to inform evidence based practice in exercise rehabilitation program development. This unit makes use of mechanical analysis concepts to performance testing will guide exercise prescription and return to sport. Further the unit provides students with consideration of the impact of the human-surface environmental interface, and psychological readiness in the return to performance process. The aim of this unit is to develop students understanding of hamstring strain injuries, to improve their ability to critically analyse the literature, and to advance their ability to deliver evidence-based programs for the prevention of injury and for safe and effective return to sport performance following injury.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description |
|---|---|
| LO1 | Demonstrate the development of specialist knowledge of evidence-based practices in hamstring injury prevention and return to sport exercise rehabilitation programs relevant to the multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary environment of high-performance sport. |
| LO2 | Plan and present individualised, safe and effective exercise interventions for athletes, directed at prevention, rehabilitation and return to sport performance following hamstring injury. |
Content
Topics will include:
- Understanding sports epidemiology research and an approach to the critical appraisal of the evidence base.
- Aetiology, mechanisms, risk factors and preventative strategies for hamstring strain injuries
- Key principles of exercise prescription for sports injury rehabilitation and return to sports performance.
- Exercise rehabilitation and return to sports performance strategies for hamstring strain injuries.
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Learning and teaching strategies include active learning, case-based learning, cooperative learning, and reflective/critical thinking activities. Comprehension will be supported through information from applied sports injury prevention experts with experience in high performance environments. These strategies will provide students with access to required knowledge and understanding of content, and opportunities for development and application of knowledge and understanding of prevention and exercise rehabilitation for return to sports performance. These strategies will allow students to meet the aims, learning outcomes and graduate attributes of this learning package. Learning and teaching strategies will reflect respect for the individual as an independent learner. Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively in the online environment.
Assessment strategy and rationale
In order to best enable students to demonstrate unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. A two-part assessment that offers an authentic learning opportunity that will be transferable to a work situation is used. This includes appraising and applying literature and creating a hamstring strain injury prevention program, along with the development of an individualised exercise rehabilitation program based on a case study. The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for you to demonstrate your achievement of each learning outcome.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Case Study Scenario - (Part A) Enables students to independently research hamstring injuries as well as assimilate expert knowledge and key research presented to them throughout semester in order to develop an evidence-based exercise rehabilitation program | 50% | LO1, LO2 |
Case Study Scenario - (Part B) Enables students to independently research hamstring injuries as well as assimilate expert knowledge and key research presented to them throughout semester in order to develop an evidence-based prevention strategy | 50% | LO1, LO2 |
Representative texts and references
Opar, D.A., Williams, M.D., & Shield, A.J. (2012) Hamstring strain injuries: factors that lead to injury and re-injury . Sports Med. 42:209-26.
Bourne M.N., Timmins, R.G., Opar, D.A., Pizzari, T., Ruddy, J.D., Sims, C., Williams, M.D., Shield, A.J. (2018). An evidence-based framework for strengthening exercises to prevent hamstring injury . Sports Med. 48(2):251-267.
Al Attar WSA, Soomro N, Sinclair PJ, et al. (2017) Effect of injury prevention programs that include the Nordic hamstring exercise on hamstring injury rates in soccer players: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med 47: 907-916.
Hickey, J. T., Timmins, R. G., Maniar, N., Rio, E., Hickey, P. F., Pitcher, C. A., ... & Opar, D. A. (2020). Pain-Free versus Pain-Threshold rehabilitation following acute hamstring strain injury: a randomized controlled trial. journal of orthopaedic & sports physical therapy, 50(2), 91-103.
Dunlop, G., Ardern, C. L., Andersen, T. E., Lewin, C., Dupont, G., Ashworth, B., ... & McCall, A. (2020). Return-to-play practices following hamstring injury: a worldwide survey of 131 Premier league football teams. Sports Medicine, 50(4), 829-840.
Green B, Bourne MN, van Dyk N, Pizzari T. Recalibrating the risk of hamstring strain injury (HSI): A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis of risk factors for index and recurrent hamstring strain injury in sport. Br J Sports Med. 2020 Sep;54(18):1081-1088.
Prince C, Morin JB, Mendiguchia J, Lahti J, Guex K, Edouard P, Samozino P. Sprint Specificity of Isolated Hamstring-Strengthening Exercises in Terms of Muscle Activity and Force Production. Front Sports Act Living. 2021 Jan 21;2:609636.