Nicol van Dyk

• BSc Phys, MSc (OMT), PhD
• Assistant Professor (Ad Astra Fellow) at Unversity College Dublin

Objective This study reviewed the current state of machine learning (ML) research for the prediction of sports-related injuries. It aimed to chart the various approaches used and assess their efficacy, considering factors such as data heterogeneity, model specificity and contextual factors when developing predictive models. Design Scoping review....

Objective To describe and categorise the injury-inciting circumstances of sudden-onset hamstring match injuries in professional football players using systematic video analysis. Methods Using a prospective injury surveillance database, all sudden-onset hamstring match injuries in male football players (18 years and older) from the Qatar Stars Leag...

The tackle contest is the most common and most injurious match contact event in rugby and is an indicator of performance. Tackle Ready is World Rugby's tackle technique education program. Limited research has characterized the tackle contest in women's rugby. The purpose of this study is to: (1) identify the match situational characteristics, ball‐...

The coaching and performance context in women's rugby is not well understood, despite growing popularity worldwide. The aim of this study was to describe the knowledge, attitudes and tackle training practices of women's rugby coaches in relation to tackle safety and performance. A globally distributed online survey exploring coaches’ knowledge, att...

Background While World Rugby guidelines do not mandate the inclusion of an electrocardiogram (ECG) for all players, this is required for entry into international rugby competitions. We, therefore, sought to describe sport-specific normative ECG values and evaluate the performance of contemporary athlete ECG guidelines in male and female professiona...

Background Trail runners participate in remote natural environments posing challenges for medical providers to access and/or evacuate injured runners. This highlights the need for improved injury prevention in trail running using up-to-date evidence on factors associated with injury in trail running. Objective To systematically review and frequent...

Background Concussions are the most common injury in female rugby union. Due to the increased popularity of women’s rugby, it is important to ensure female-specific factors are considered, including the menstrual cycle. Function of the pituitary axes have been reported to be affected following concussion, which may contribute to irregular menses an...

Objective Is neck strength a risk factor for concussion in professional rugby players. Design Prospective study. Setting Professional rugby. Participants 136 senior and academy male, professional rugby players. Assessment of Risk Factors An isometric ‘make’ test and an endurance test were used to measure cervical peak isometric strength and end...

OBJECTIVES: To (1) provide position-specific normative data for isometric cervical muscle strength and endurance in professional, male rugby players and (2) assess the relationship between age, height, weight, and playing position with cervical muscle strength and endurance. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Professional rugby players complet...

Objectives This study aimed to (1) compare the effectiveness of a Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) versus single-leg Romanian deadlift (SLRDL) exercise programme on a hamstring injury risk surrogate; (2) compare the muscle soreness experienced by both exercise programmes; and (3) assess compliance to remote injury prevention exercise protocols throu...

OBJECTIVE: To determine if neck muscle strength and endurance are associated with concussion injuries in professional, male rugby players. Playing position, history of previous concussion, and age were also considered. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study METHODS: One hundred thirty-six male, professional rugby players completed neck strength testing t...

Despite its widespread use in adults, the Nordic hamstring exercise remains underexplored in athletic youth populations. Further, given the dynamic nature of growth and maturation, comparisons with elite adult populations may be inaccurate. Here we describe absolute and body mass-normalised eccentric hamstring normative values for football, athleti...

Muscle injury classification systems for hamstring injuries have evolved to use anatomy and imaging information to aid management and prognosis. However, classification systems lack reliability and validity data and are not specific to individual hamstring muscles, potentially missing parameters vital for sport-specific and activity-specific decisi...

The key indications for surgical repair of hamstring injuries (HSIs) remain unclear in the literature due to a lack of high-level evidence and expert knowledge. The 2020 London International Hamstring Consensus meeting aimed to highlight clear surgical indications and to create a foundation for future research. A literature review was conducted fol...

Hamstring injuries (HSIs) are the most common athletic injury in running and pivoting sports, but despite large amounts of research, injury rates have not declined in the last 2 decades. HSI often recur and many areas are lacking evidence and guidance for optimal rehabilitation. This study aimed to develop an international expert consensus for the...

Objective To investigate the incidence, prevalence, risk factors and morphological presentations of low back pain (LBP) in adolescent athletes. Design Systematic review with meta-analysis. Data sources Medline, Embase, CINAHL via EBSCO, Web of Science, Scopus. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Studies evaluating the incidence and/or pre...

Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the primary stabilizing ligament of the knee joint, is one of the most significant problems in orthopaedic sports medicine with an annual incidence of 71 to 91 per 100,000 persons reported in some European Union (EU) countries (Granan et al, 2009). Taking the population of the EU countries as 500,000...

Background To evaluate the efficacy of early versus delayed introduction of lengthening (ie, eccentric strengthening) exercises in addition to an established rehabilitation programme on return to sport duration for acute hamstring injuries in a randomised controlled superiority trial. Methods 90 male participants (age: 18–36 years, median 26 years...

Purpose To determine associations between thermal responses, medical events, performance, heat acclimation and health status during a World Athletics Championships in hot-humid conditions. Methods From 305 marathon and race-walk starters, 83 completed a preparticipation questionnaire on health and acclimation. Core (T core ; ingestible pill) and s...

Objective: To investigate the relationship between training/match play duration and time-loss groin injury in professional male soccer players and determine if previously identified intrinsic risk factors influenced this relationship. Design: Prospective cohort study. Methods: A total of 590 professional male soccer players were prospectively...

Objective To review and frequently update the available evidence on injury risk factors and epidemiology of injury in trail running. Design Living systematic review. Updated searches will be done every 6 months for a minimum period of 5 years. Data sources Eight electronic databases were searched from inception to 18 March 2021. Eligibility crit...

Background : International sporting events such as the World Athletics (WA) competition require proper medical coverage to ensure the wellbeing of athletes, support teams, and spectators. Several factors may have an impact on people's requirements for medical attention such as the climate, altitude, and intensity of the sporting competition on the...

Kicking is fundamental in many field-based sports. Most studies investigating kicking performance have been conducted with male athletes, resulting in a dearth of specific data to inform coaching of this skill in female players. This systematic review aimed to compare kicking biomechanics in male and female athletes in field-based sports. As per PR...

Objectives: (1) Describe which strength training exercise descriptors are reported in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) rehabilitation research and (2) compare the current standards of reporting ACLR strength training exercise descriptors to international best practice strength training guidelines. Design: Scoping review. Literat...

Background Rugby Union, a popular full-contact sport played throughout the world, has one of the highest rates of concussion of all full-contact sports. Concussion is the most commonly reported injury in rugby matches with 17% of professional players sustaining a concussion in a given season. Cervical muscle strengthening is often included in concu...

Background Interventions utilising the Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) have resulted in reductions in the incidence of hamstring strain injury (HSI). Subsequently, quantifying eccentric knee flexor strength during performance of the NHE to identify an association with the occurrence of future HSI has become increasingly common; however, the data to...

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01485-y

Hamstring injuries are the most prevalent muscle injuries in both amateur and professional soccer (football) athletes. Previously, eccentric strength deficits and between-limb imbalances have been associated with an increased risk of muscle injuries. This study investigates whether fatigue significantly reduces peak eccentric hamstring strength af...

ACL injuries are among the most severe knee injuries in elite sport, with a high injury burden and re-injury risk. Despite extensive literature on the injury and the higher incidence of injury and re-injury in female athletes, there is limited evidence on the return to sport (RTS) of elite female football players following ACL reconstruction (ACLR)...

In soccer (football), dominant limb kicking produces higher ball velocity and is used with greater frequency than the non-dominant limb. It is unclear whether limb dominance has an effect on injury incidence. The purpose of this systematic review with meta-analysis is to examine the relationship between limb dominance and soccer injuries. Studies w...

Academic publishing is rolling in profits1 but universities and governments are fighting back against access fees adding to threats to the business that include Plan S and Sci-Hub. Clinical scientific journals were the practitioner’s link to research findings with peer review providing quality assurance. The rise of predatory journals makes it even...

High quality sports injury research can facilitate sports injury prevention and treatment. There is scope to improve how our field applies best practice methods—methods matter (greatly!). The 1st METHODS MATTER Meeting, held in January 2019 in Copenhagen, Denmark, was the forum for an international group of researchers with expertise in research me...

Synopsis: High-quality sports injury research can facilitate sports injury prevention and treatment. There is scope to improve how our field applies best-practice methods-methods matter (greatly!). The first METHODS MATTER meeting, held in January 2019 in Copenhagen, Denmark, was the forum for an international group of researchers with expertise i...

Objective To systematically review risk factors for hamstring strain injury (HSI). Design Systematic review update. Data sources Database searches: (1) inception to 2011 (original), and (2) 2011 to December 2018 (update). Citation tracking, manual reference and ahead of press searches. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Studies presentin...

Many studies have evaluated factors associated with the athlete (intrinsic) and factors that are external to the athlete (extrinsic) for their relationship with hamstring injury. Over time these intrinsic and extrinsic factors have been examined across a large spectrum of athletic populations with varying degrees of rigour and consistency. Recently...

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of implementing the Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) to prevent hamstring injuries in soccer. A professional team was followed by the same medical team during 5 successive seasons (2012/2013 through 2016/2017). During the first and last seasons (2012/2013 and 2016/2017), no hamstring preventive actio...

Training and competition loads have emerged as modifiable composite risk factors of non-contact injury. Hamstring strains are the most common injuries in football with substantial burden on the individual player and club. Nevertheless, robust evidence of a consistent load-hamstring injury relationship in professional football is lacking. Using avai...

Contact in elite football can result in severe injury such as traumatic fracture. Limited information exists regarding the rehabilitation and return to sport (RTS) of these injuries especially in elite football. We outline the RTS of an elite English Premier League footballer following a tibia-fibula fracture including gym-based physical preparatio...

Introduction: Side-to-side strength differences are often used in return to sport (RTS) decision making after hamstring injury. In football (soccer), there is little consensus, and a side-to-side difference of <10% is often suggested as a criterion. To date, no study has determined whether differences exist when comparing the strength of the injur...

Research question Does the Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) prevent hamstring injuries when included as part of an injury prevention intervention? Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies We considered the population to be any athletes participating in any sporting activity, the intervention to be the...

Hamstring injuries remain a significant burden in sports that involve high-speed running. In elite male football, hamstring injury has repeatedly been identified as the most common non-contact injury, representing 12% of all injuries. As the incidence remains high, investigations are aimed at better understanding how to improve prevention efforts....

Background: Hamstring injuries remain a significant injury burden in sports such as soccer that involve high-speed running. It has repeatedly been identified as the most common noncontact injury in elite male soccer, representing 12% of all injuries. As the incidence of hamstring injuries remains high, investigations are aimed at better understand...

Introduction In elite sport, the use of strength testing to establish muscle function and performance is common. Traditionally, isokinetic strength tests have been used, measuring torque during concentric and eccentric muscle action. A device that measures eccentric hamstring muscle strength while performing the Nordic hamstring exercise is now als...

Aim To investigate the association of daily clinical measures and the progression of rehabilitation and perceived running effort. Methods A cohort of 131 athletes with an MRI-confirmed acute hamstring injury underwent a standardised criteria-based rehabilitation protocol. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to investigate the associat...

Background Hamstring injuries remain prevalent across a number of professional sports. In football, the incidence has even increased by 4% per year at the Champions League level over the last decade. The role of muscle strength or strength ratios and their association with risk of hamstring injury remain restricted by small sample sizes and inconcl...

Imagine being able to predict the weather next winter with 100% accuracy. Impossible, right? Yet the belief that we can predict which athletes will get injured based on some form of screening test is not uncommon. The challenge of predicting injury prediction was a prevailing theme at the 2017 IOC World Conference on Prevention of Illness and Injur...

Muscle injuries are not all the same. All clinicians have experienced treating injuries that just won’t heal quickly, even though they seem like they should. We feel increasingly anxious as pressure from the patient and team management mounts. One factor that may delay healing of a ‘muscle strain’ is involvement of intramuscular tendon in the injur...

BEHANDLUNG EINES PROFIFUSSBALLERS MIT HAMSTRINGVERLETZUNG Es gibt viele unterschiedliche Meinungen daruber, wie akute Hamstring-Verletzungen rehabilitiert werden sollten. Oft verlassen sich Sportphysios bei der Gestaltung des Rehaprogramms fur einen verletzten Athleten vor allem auf ihre personlichen Erfahrungen und Praferenzen. Der Rehaverlauf ist...

Background: A hamstring strain injury (HSI) has become the most common noncontact injury in soccer. Isokinetic muscle strength deficits are considered a risk factor for HSIs. However, underpowered studies with small sample sizes unable to determine small associations have led to inconclusive results regarding the role of isokinetic strength and st...

There is a systemic failure of certain countries to curb doping practices. Prudent federations, managers, coaches and medical staff would invest in robust systems of professional and ethical athlete coaching and support. National and international governing bodies should prioritise these systems, creating educational platforms and mandatory practic...

IM SPRINT tritt plotzlich ein krampfartiger Schmerz auf. Zerrungen treffen haufig die ischiokruralen Muskeln –die Krux dabei: Nach einer ersten Zerrung lasst die nachste meistens nicht lange auf sich warten. Wie entstehen Zerrungen, wer ist besonders gefahrdet und wie konnen Sportphysiotherapeuten Sportler mit Risikofaktoren schutzen?