With an average of 5.2 injuries per season and a missed game rate of 19.1 per team, it’s easy to see how Hamstring injuries can cost AFL teams.  What’s particularly interesting is that while the rate of groin injury has decreased in terms of prevalence, the rate of recurrence of groin strains and osteitis pubis has increased significantly to 20% after lows of 11% in previous years.

Overall, while it’s heartening to see that an introduction of a more considered athlete injury management plan has resulted in reductions in some injury types, the risk of injury to AFL players at all levels is still high – particularly so amongst up and coming players who may not have access to the same amount of elite medical care that the top AFL teams have.

Making sure that all methods available to increase recovery and reduce injury rate and injury recurrence rate is key for all players. Stretching and warming up properly is crucial, and items like Coretech shorts can really have a positive effect on injury prevention and recovery.

While there’s a noticeable downward trend over the 24 seasons in overall average recurrence rates of injuries, rates of new injury per club per season have remained steady, while overall injury prevalence has increased. The increase in the amount of games missed per club due to injury is indicative of the AFL’s changed management of injury by ensuring players take additional amounts of time off the field to recover.

Looking for additional information on how to treat and recover from Osteitis Pubis, Hamstring and Groin injury? Find more here.

Source: 2015 AFL Injury Survey, Collaborators: AFL Doctors Association AFL Physiotherapists Association AFL Football Operations Department