I am privileged to welcome Dr. Paul Read @PaulRea64657771 who joins me from London. Paul is a senior lecturer of Strength & Conditioning at St Mary's University in London & has a wealth of knowledge to share, having worked at the highest level as a coach and rehabilitation specialist with elite athletes. Paul has a special interest in youth athlete development; specifically the neuromuscular mechanisms involved in injury occurrence and training adaptations.

Paul has published numerous peer-reviewed journals as well as presented his ideas at various international and national conferences, all of which have been highly influential in the field. In addition, Paul recently finished his Phd in which some of his key interests were around injury prevention and screening in the youth athlete population. 

In this episode you will learn:

- Who is Paul Read. His background, previous jobs and current work. 

- Why there is a rapid increase in injury rates amongst young male footballers around the ages of 13

- Why young players are at a higher risk of injury during the time of their peak height velocity (PHV) 

- How the types of injury change as a young athlete matures

- Paul's methods for monitoring youth athletes (especially football players)

- About Paul's 'Injury Risk Factor Hierarchical Model' 

- What the 'Neuromuscular Feedforward Strategy' is and how you can use it

- The 'Tuck Jump' injury screening assessment & it's 10 point criteria 

- How to manage a player who is demonstrating excessive knee valgus in screening

Paul's Research discussed in the conversation:

-  Read, P., Oliver, J., Croix, M., Myer, G., & Lloyd, R. S. (2015). Injury Risk Factors in Male Youth Soccer Players. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 37(5), 1-7. 

-  Read, P. J., Oliver, J. L., Croix, M. B. D. S., Myer, G. D., & Lloyd, R. S. (2016). Neuromuscular Risk Factors for Knee and Ankle Ligament Injuries in Male Youth Soccer Players. Sports Medicine, 1-8.

-  Read, P., Oliver, J. L., DE Ste, C. M., Myer, G. D., & Lloyd, R. S. (2015). Reliability of the tuck jump injury risk screening assessment in elite male youth soccer players. Journal of strength and conditioning research/National Strength & Conditioning Association.

-  NEW STUDY -  Read, P., Oliver, J., Mark, B., De Ste Croix, Myer, G., & Lloyd, R., (2016)  The scientific foundations and associated injury risks of early soccer specialisation

Reading material and sources of interest from the conversation: 

- Price, R.J., Hawkins, R.D., Hulse, M.A, & Hodson, A. (2004) The Football Association medical research programme: an audit of injuries in academy youth football. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 38(4), 466-271

-  Rumpf, M. C., & Cronin, J. (2012). Injury incidence, body site, and severity in soccer players aged 6–18 years: implications for injury prevention. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 34(1), 20-31. 

-  Van der Sluis, A., Elferink-Gemser, M. T., Coelho-e-Silva, M. J., Nijboer, J. A., Brink, M. S., & Visscher, C. (2014). Sports injuries aligned to peak height velocity in talented pubertal soccer players. International Journal of Sports Medicine 35:351-355. 

-  Hirtz, P., & Starosta, W. (2002). Sensitive and critical periods of motor co-ordination development and its relation to motor learning. Journal of Human Kinetics, 7, 19-28.

- Mirwald, R. L., Baxter-Jones, A. D., Bailey, D. A., & Beunen, G. P. (2002). An assessment of maturity from anthropometric measurements. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 34(4), 689-694.

- Lephart, S. M., Pincivero, D. M., Giraido, J. L., & Fu, F. H. (1997). The role of proprioception in the management and rehabilitation of athletic injuries. The American journal of sports medicine, 25(1), 130-137.

-  Besier, T. F., Lloyd, D. G., Ackland, T. R., & Cochrane, J. L. (2001). Anticipatory effects on knee joint loading during running and cutting maneuvers. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 33(7), 1176-1181.

- Padua, D. A., Marshall, S. W., Boling, M. C., Thigpen, C. A., Garrett, W. E., & Beutler, A. I. (2009). The landing error scoring system (LESS) is a valid and reliable clinical assessment tool of jump-landing biomechanics the JUMP-ACL study. The American journal of sports medicine, 37(10), 1996-2002.

- Free tool for video screening http://www.kinovea.org/ 

- Bell, D. R., Vesci, B. J., DiStefano, L. J., Guskiewicz, K. M., Hirth, C. J., & Padua, D. A. (2012). Muscle activity and flexibility in individuals with medial knee displacement during the overhead squat. Athletic Training and Sports Health Care, 4(3), 117-125.

- Dingenen, B., Malfait, B., Nijs, S., Peers, K. H., Vereecken, S., Verschueren, S. M., & Staes, F. F. (2015). Can two-dimensional video analysis during single-leg drop vertical jumps help identify non-contact knee injury risk? A one-year prospective study. Clinical Biomechanics, 30(8), 781-787.

Recommended Twitter Accounts: 

- @PaulRea64657771

- @Rhodri_S_Lloyd

- @gregmyer11

- @DrJonOliver

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