GAA Specific Injury Prevention Program

The three most common GAA injuries – hamstring, groin and ankle ligament injuries - have respective recurrence rates of 44%, 21.5% and 13.5.These rates illustrate the vulnerability of GAA players from an injury perspective, particularly previously injured players, and the consequent need for comprehensive preventative measures in the sport. ‘GAA 15’ is an injury prevention program based on the FIFA 11+ program previously discussed in our soccer blog series, and by the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation.

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Significant development in dynamic balance and jump-landing technique occurred in Gaelic football players who adopted the GAA 15, when compared to usual training in a trial conducted by University College Dublin.

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The program itself focuses on 3 different general areas of the warm-up. Phase 1 revolves around running drills. The program incorporateship mobility and acceleration/ deceleration training. Phase 2 is a 4-stage section that focusses on correcting biomechanical faults that might predispose players to injury. The first stage of phase 2 includes lower limb and core strengthening. Stage 2 aims to address balance deficit with exercises such as single leg deadlifts. Stage 3 focusses on jumping retraining and the final stage of phase 2 is specific to hamstring injury prevention, incorporating Nordic hamstring curls and reverse lunges. Phase 3 is dynamic, sport-specific training which focusses on sprinting and plyometric exercises.

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GAA 15 is designed specifically to be easily integrated into traditional GAA field training and is proven to advance and protect GAA players. The program is available at; https://learning.gaa.ie/Gaelic15

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If you have any questions on GAA injuries or a prevention program for your injuries, call our physiotherapy clinic located in Dublin 2 on 01 441 0100.