TY - JOUR
T1 - Before hitting the slopes
T2 - Athlete and staff perspectives on warm-up and activation in high-performance snowsports
AU - Beck, Lisa
AU - Bekker, Sheree
AU - Verhagen, Evert
AU - Bolling, Caroline
AU - Spörri, J. rg
N1 - Funding Information: This study was funded by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) as part of the Athlete Health Unit (AHU) framework project "Athlete Health Protection”. The funding source was not involved in the study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in the writing of the report or in the decision to submit this paper for publication. CB was funded by the IOC Medical Research Funds within the last 36 months. Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2024/1/8
Y1 - 2024/1/8
N2 - To explore warm-up and activation (W&A) practices in high-performance snowsports to describe their importance, application and potential improvements based on the perspectives of elite-level athletes and staff members. Qualitative study consisting of semistructured interviews with 13 international elite-level athletes, on-snow coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, sports physiotherapists and sports psychologists from different snowsports and subdisciplines: alpine skiing, freestyle skiing (park and pipe, aerials, moguls) and snowboarding (park and pipe, snowboard cross). The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed based on the principles of grounded theory. The main themes raised by the participants were (1) the importance of readiness for sports participation as the motive for W&A, (2) how readiness is reached with a structured W&A routine and (3) the different athlete-specific, task-specific and environmental-specific factors for optimal W&A. Athletes and staff members considered W&A an essential measure to get physically and mentally ready for sports participation. Being ready was described as a key factor for performance and injury prevention. For these athletes, adherence to W&A was the result of a process of experiencing the beneficial effects of W&A and learning from sustaining one or more injuries. Broad implementation of basic physical and mental W&A at the youth level was considered an important measure to increase the overall adoption of W&A as an inherent part of training and competition. At the elite level, W&A is performed to reach athletes' mental and physical readiness for performance enhancement and injury prevention. W&A is acknowledged as a complex and dynamic programme and is typically adapted to sport-specific demands, injury risks, environmental circumstances and individual needs and preferences. Overall, this study provides valuable contextual insights into the complexity of W&A and the factors that need to be considered to make sport-specific recommendations.
AB - To explore warm-up and activation (W&A) practices in high-performance snowsports to describe their importance, application and potential improvements based on the perspectives of elite-level athletes and staff members. Qualitative study consisting of semistructured interviews with 13 international elite-level athletes, on-snow coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, sports physiotherapists and sports psychologists from different snowsports and subdisciplines: alpine skiing, freestyle skiing (park and pipe, aerials, moguls) and snowboarding (park and pipe, snowboard cross). The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed based on the principles of grounded theory. The main themes raised by the participants were (1) the importance of readiness for sports participation as the motive for W&A, (2) how readiness is reached with a structured W&A routine and (3) the different athlete-specific, task-specific and environmental-specific factors for optimal W&A. Athletes and staff members considered W&A an essential measure to get physically and mentally ready for sports participation. Being ready was described as a key factor for performance and injury prevention. For these athletes, adherence to W&A was the result of a process of experiencing the beneficial effects of W&A and learning from sustaining one or more injuries. Broad implementation of basic physical and mental W&A at the youth level was considered an important measure to increase the overall adoption of W&A as an inherent part of training and competition. At the elite level, W&A is performed to reach athletes' mental and physical readiness for performance enhancement and injury prevention. W&A is acknowledged as a complex and dynamic programme and is typically adapted to sport-specific demands, injury risks, environmental circumstances and individual needs and preferences. Overall, this study provides valuable contextual insights into the complexity of W&A and the factors that need to be considered to make sport-specific recommendations.
KW - Athlete
KW - Injury
KW - Prevention
KW - Skiing
KW - Snowboarding
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85182383147&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2023-001643
DO - https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2023-001643
M3 - Article
C2 - 38268527
SN - 2055-7647
VL - 10
JO - BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine
JF - BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine
IS - 1
M1 - e001643
ER -