Learn how to use sprinting as a means of screening athletes for power, strength, range of motion, and coordination. In this session from the NSCA’s 2018 National Conference, Derek Hansen also identifies appropriate sprinting and running mechanics for optimizing performance and minimizing injury, and outlines a process for using sprinting as a return-to-play modality for soft-tissue and joint injuries.

Erik Hernandez, Associate Director for Strength and Conditioning-Olympic Sports at the University of North Carolina, helps coaches simplify the rehabilitation process and shares ideas for return-to-play at the 2023 NSCA Coaches Conference.

The purpose of this article is to strongly suggest and offer a pragmatic and stepwise approach that takes into account the ideas and concepts of shared decision making that allows for the “best practices,” pre-participation screenings, evaluations, and stratification flow charts for safe and effective return to play for athletes.

Due to the high contact and intensity of football, injuries to the players are inevitable. Strength and conditioning coaches play a vital role in the athlete’s process of return to sport. This article is a detailed outline of the solutions that are involved with transitioning a football player from rehabilitation to strength and conditioning back to the field.

The NSCA has built a collection of resources to help our community of strength and conditioning professionals and athletes safely return to training and adapt to the new challenges created by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Ivan Lewis, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Seattle Seahawks National Football League (NFL) team, shares his journey to becoming a strength coach, advice on professional development, how he hires people, and how to work in collaboration with other sports medicine professionals to help athletes return-to-play.

This article is intended to assist tactical facilitators in the construction of a well-designed tactical return to duty program to help combat against the musculoskeletal injury burden that exists within tactical professions.

This is an excerpt from NSCA's Essentials of Sport Science by NSCA -National Strength & Conditioning Association, Duncan N. French & Lorena Torres-Ronda.