ABSTRACT
This chapter explores two relatively recent additions to the strength and conditioning coach’s scope of practice: prehabilitation and movement competency programmes designed to prevent injury. The challenges of preventing or reducing injury are discussed in this chapter along with the various strategies that have been adopted. The web of determinants concept is used to emphasise that there are multiple causative factors of injury, and these factors may be interrelated in nonlinear and unpredictable ways. We argue that some strategies may be privileged because they are thought to be more convenient for the sport. The concept of prehabilitation is unpacked and examined on the basis of the ability to accurately identify and remediate causes of injury. The chapter presents arguments for prevention strategies including attention to the mental wellbeing of athletes dealing with various challenging aspects of sport, particularly injury and its consequences. The chapter examines rationales of injury prevention programmes that target modifying basic strength, range of motion and biomechanics of movement, with some success but with equivocal findings. The pedagogical case for this chapter highlights some of the overarching issues with injury prevention, namely athlete and management acceptance, compliance and exercise fidelity.
