Injury Prevention for Female Lacrosse Athletes

The didactic component of the injury prevention education program includes information on prevalence of injuries in female athletes, biomechanical risk factors for injury, and effectiveness of injury prevention programs (IPP) for mitigation of injury risk. Examples of different activities from the IPP, including proper and improper movement strategies will be provided. Athletes will be instructed as a group on how to properly perform of each activity of the IPP, and will be given an opportunity to practice. Athletes, coaches, and staff will be provided with links to written instructions and videos of proper performance for each activity. The IPP will be performed at least 3 times/week prior to practice. Coaches, staff, and athletes will be encouraged to provide supervision and feedback on performance of the IPP throughout the season.

In addition to the education program, participants in this group will receive individualized feedback on performance of the IPP. The participant will be videotaped while performing the IPP, and movement errors and compensations will be identified to provide a basis for feedback sessions to correct movement. The session will include different forms of feedback including showing the athlete their video, identifying the error or compensation, and providing verbal, tactile, and visual feedback to correct the error or compensation. Common errors and compensations, along with verbal cues and corrections, have been identified and manualized for the study. Two additional feedback sessions will be scheduled at regular intervals during the season to provide feedback on performance throughout the season. Participants in this group will be encouraged to provide peer feedback to one another.