Today I am extremely lucky to welcome Prof Mark De Ste Croix @destecroixmark to the podcast. Mark has worked in paediatric sport and exercise for nearly 20 years and specialises in talent identification and youth athlete development. More recently, Mark has carried out considerable research in to injury prevention processes and recovery strategies in youth footballers. 

Mark has worked with some of the top football teams in the world; Including Spanish teams Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. 

In this episode you will learn:

1. Who is Prof Mark De Ste Croix?

2. What is the BASES  Paediatric exercise science interest group? What work do they do and what are they trying to achieve? 

3. What are some key characteristics of muscle strength development that coaches should have a deep understanding of? 

4. With regard to injury prevention, what are some strategies that Mark has tried to implement in the elite football clubs he has worked with. 

5. How would Mark advise physios / s&c coaches to successfully identify injury risk in academy players who are at various stages of development?

6. In a perfect world, how would a strength and conditioning coach devise an injury prevention programme to have the greatest beneficial effect?

7. Are there any specific injury prevention protocols that Mark thinks should be understood and distributed across all football academies? 

8. Regarding recovery strategies, which system/s do you think have the greatest beneficial effect on young players?

Areas of Reference from the conversation:

Marks formidable body of research: 

Paediatric Biomechanics and Motor Control - Prof Mark De Ste Croix

Barcelona u13 player lead warm up

Fifa 11+ 

Paul Read Tuck Jump Assessment: 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.

Thanks for listening, please review in iTunes!!