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Coach's notes

Short reads on training

Plain-English tips from the gym and the pitch, backed by peer-reviewed research.

Injury prevention · 3 min read · 2 November 2026

Nordic curls: look after your hamstrings

If you play football or rugby, you probably know someone who has pulled a hamstring. The Nordic curl is one exercise with good evidence that it helps. You kneel, a partner holds your ankles, and you lower your body forward as slowly as you can.

In a trial in men's football, teams that did a 10-week build-up of Nordic curls, then kept going with a weekly session through the season, had 3.8 acute hamstring injuries per 100 player seasons, compared with 13.1 in teams that didn't. Repeat injuries dropped even more, from 45.8 to 7.1 per 100 player seasons [1].

It works at amateur level too. In a trial of 40 amateur men's football teams (579 players), teams that did 25 Nordic sessions over 13 weeks had 0.25 hamstring injuries per 1,000 player hours, against 0.8 in the other teams. Players stuck with 91% of the sessions. The exercise didn't make the injuries that did happen any less serious, though [2].

A 2019 review pooled 15 studies covering 8,459 athletes across several sports. Injury programmes that included the Nordic curl cut hamstring injuries by up to 51%. The authors also noted that the best dose (how many sets and how often) still isn't clear [3].

Start small: two sets of five, once or twice a week, lowering only as far as you can control and catching yourself with your hands. Expect sore hamstrings for the first week or two. In season, one short top-up a week keeps it ticking over. Ask me and I'll add them to your programme.

Matt Peters · MSc Strength & Conditioning

References

  1. Petersen J, Thorborg K, Nielsen MB, et al. Preventive effect of eccentric training on acute hamstring injuries in men's soccer: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Am J Sports Med. 2011;39(11):2296–2303. Read the paper
  2. van der Horst N, Smits DW, Petersen J, et al. The preventive effect of the Nordic hamstring exercise on hamstring injuries in amateur soccer players: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Sports Med. 2015;43(6):1316–1323. Read the paper
  3. van Dyk N, Behan FP, Whiteley R. Including the Nordic hamstring exercise in injury prevention programmes halves the rate of hamstring injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 8459 athletes. Br J Sports Med. 2019;53(21):1362–1370. Read the paper
Recovery · 3 min read · 30 October 2026

Sleep is your best supplement

If you only change one thing this month, make it sleep. In one study, college basketball players who aimed for 10 hours in bed each night sprinted faster and improved their free-throw and three-point shooting by about 9% [1].

Too little sleep is also linked with injury. Teenage athletes who averaged under 8 hours a night were 1.7 times more likely to have been injured than those who slept more [2]. That's a link rather than proof, but it matches what coaches see.

The 2021 expert consensus on athletes' sleep says adults generally need 7 to 9 hours and teenagers 8 to 10, and that athletes probably need more depending on their training load. There's no single number that suits everyone [3].

Easy wins from the same consensus: keep your bedroom cool, dark and quiet, get natural light in the morning, be careful with caffeine later in the day, and keep naps under 30 minutes, ideally between about 1pm and 4pm [3].

If your check-in says you slept badly, tell me. A lighter session after a bad night is smart training, not slacking.

Matt Peters · MSc Strength & Conditioning

References

  1. Mah CD, Mah KE, Kezirian EJ, Dement WC. The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players. Sleep. 2011;34(7):943–950. Read the paper
  2. Milewski MD, Skaggs DL, Bishop GA, et al. Chronic lack of sleep is associated with increased sports injuries in adolescent athletes. J Pediatr Orthop. 2014;34(2):129–133. Read the paper
  3. Walsh NP, Halson SL, Sargent C, et al. Sleep and the athlete: narrative review and 2021 expert consensus recommendations. Br J Sports Med. 2021;55(7):356–368. Read the paper
Training · 3 min read · 30 October 2026

Why your warm-up matters

A good warm-up isn't a jog and a few stretches. I use a simple order: raise your temperature with light cardio, mobilise the hips, ankles and upper back, activate the glutes and trunk, then do a few jumps, sprints or lighter sets before the main work.

Structured warm-ups prevent injuries. In a trial of 1,892 female footballers aged 13 to 17, teams that used the FIFA 11+ warm-up had about a third fewer injuries overall, and roughly half as many severe and overuse injuries [1].

Rugby shows the same. In schoolboy rugby, teams that did a movement-control warm-up at least three times a week had 72% fewer match injuries than teams doing a standard warm-up [2]. The benefit depended on doing it regularly.

Strength work matters too. A review of randomised trials found strength training cut sports injuries to less than a third, while stretching on its own showed no protective effect [3].

In the app, every session starts with its warm-up. Tick it off before your first working set.

Matt Peters · MSc Strength & Conditioning

References

  1. Soligard T, Myklebust G, Steffen K, et al. Comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries in young female footballers: cluster randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2008;337:a2469. Read the paper
  2. Hislop MD, Stokes KA, Williams S, et al. Reducing musculoskeletal injury and concussion risk in schoolboy rugby players with a pre-activity movement control exercise programme: a cluster randomised controlled trial. Br J Sports Med. 2017;51(15):1140–1146. Read the paper
  3. Lauersen JB, Bertelsen DM, Andersen LB. The effectiveness of exercise interventions to prevent sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Br J Sports Med. 2014;48(11):871–877. Read the paper
Netball · 4 min read · 30 October 2026

Strength training for netball

Netball is a sport of landings. A systematic review of netball injuries found the ankle and knee are the most injured areas, from grassroots players to the elite [1].

In the UK Superleague, acute ankle ligament injuries caused the most time lost from matches, and ACL injuries, although rare, kept players out for a long time [2].

Training helps. Across 18 studies of young female athletes, neuromuscular training roughly halved the risk of ACL injury. Programmes worked best when they included landing practice (jump and hold) and lower-body strength such as Nordic curls, lunges and calf raises, about two to three times a week [3].

Lifting won't make you slow either. In a review of 15 studies, gains in squat strength went hand in hand with faster sprints [4].

If you're new to the gym, start with bodyweight and dumbbells, practise landing with your knee over your toes, and build from there. Two short sessions a week in season is a good target.

Matt Peters · MSc Strength & Conditioning

References

  1. Downs C, Snodgrass SJ, Weerasekara I, Valkenborghs SR, Callister R. Injuries in netball: a systematic review. Sports Med Open. 2021;7(1):3. Read the paper
  2. Horne S, Shaheen A, Baltzopoulos B, Hills L. Match and training injury epidemiology in elite UK netball: a prospective cohort study over one season. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2025;11(1):e002324. Read the paper
  3. Petushek EJ, Sugimoto D, Stoolmiller M, Smith G, Myer GD. Evidence-based best-practice guidelines for preventing anterior cruciate ligament injuries in young female athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Sports Med. 2019;47(7):1744–1753. Read the paper
  4. Seitz LB, Reyes A, Tran TT, Sáez de Villarreal E, Haff GG. Increases in lower-body strength transfer positively to sprint performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2014;44(12):1693–1702. Read the paper
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