Research articles

Does responsibility fall on the players or the sporting context? A study of the use of injury-prevention programmes in Swedish elite floorball clubs

september 2, 2024

Taru Tervo^1,2Andreas Simensen³ & Staffan Karp^2,4¹ Floorball Research and Development Centre, Umeå University; ² Umeå School of Sport Sciences, Umeå University; ³ Sports Clinic Rehab, Solna, Stockholm; ⁴ Department of Education, Umeå University

Floorball is a team sport associated with many potential injuries, but several studies have shown that injury-prevention programmes (IPEPs) can reduce the risk of injuries occurring. Despite the existence and efficacy of injury-prevention exercise programmes, the incidence of injuries is still high. An important factor in conducting injury-prevention programmes regularly is player motivation. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore the perceptions of and motivations behind floorball players participating in injury-prevention programmes in relation to their athletic context in elite Swedish clubs.

Thirteen players from three different teams—five men and eight women—were interviewed. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. One main overall theme was identified: Insufficient conditions for motivation. The theme consists of four categories: “high demand on player responsibility”, “the influence of injuries”, “lack of time”, and “support from experts”.

The results of the study show that the conditions necessary for floorball player’s motivation in their sporting environment to perform injury-prevention exercise programme are insufficient, despite knowledge of their significance in avoiding injuries. The two main detriments to the motivation of the players to conduct injury-prevention exercise programmes were a lack of time, and injury-prevention programmes not being prioritised in everyday training. Based on the results, it is suggested that floorball players need improved conditions in order to be able to perform injury-prevention programmes on a regular basis, and moreover, that injury-prevention exercises must become a natural part of everyday training.

Click here to read this peer reviewed article in Scandinavian Sport Studies Forum, Vol. 15, 2024

TARU TERVO, PhD, works as a research coordinator at the Floorball Research and Development Centre, Umeå University. She has a close collaboration with the Swedish Floorball Federation and researchers from various disciplines related to floorball. She has a background in physiotherapy and holds a PhD in Sports Medicine. Her main research interest is sports injuries and injury prevention.

ANDREAS SIMENSEN graduated as a Physiotherapist from Karolinska University in 2011. Later he earned his Master of Medical Science, with the main field Physiotherapy, from Umeå University in 2021. Andreas is today a specialist in Sports Medicine, working as a private practician at a Sports Clinic in Solna, Stockholm. Outside the clinic, he has been working many years at the field of sports, especially ice hockey, floorball and table tennis, by taking care of acute injuries and helping athletes to prevent injuries.

STAFFAN KARP is an Associate Professor in pedagogy at Umeå University. Since the mid-1990s, he has studied socialisation processes in organised children and youth sports, and in the 2000s with a focus on resistance to change in Swedish sports movement.