Hamstring Injuries in Football: Why They Keep Coming Back and How to Prevent Them Better

23 July 2026

By Joris Jellasics
- Co-founder ORBIT - First Team S&C coach RSC Anderlecht -

Hamstring injuries have been one of the biggest problems in football for years.

Everyone knows the image: a player accelerates, suddenly grabs the back of his thigh and immediately knows something is wrong. Sometimes it happens during a deep run. Sometimes in a sprint duel. Sometimes near the end of a match, when fatigue starts to play a role.

What is striking is that we now know more about hamstring injuries than ever before. Clubs monitor sprint distances, players do strength training, medical teams work more professionally and prevention programmes are better supported by science than in the past.

And yet, hamstring injuries remain extremely common.

That immediately shows the core of the problem: hamstring prevention is not simple. It is not solved with one exercise, one test or one GPS metric.

Hamstring injuries are multifactorial.

And that means we need to approach them that way.

Why hamstrings are so vulnerable in football

Football is a sport of repeated explosive actions.

Accelerating.
Decelerating.
Turning.
Pressing.
Making deep runs.
Sprinting under pressure.
Sprinting while fatigued.
Reacting to an opponent or a ball that suddenly changes direction.

The hamstrings play a key role in almost all of these actions. They help extend the hip, control the knee and decelerate the lower leg during high-speed running.

Especially during sprinting, the hamstrings have to tolerate enormous forces. Just before the foot hits the ground, they need to produce force while lengthening. That is a very demanding combination: high tension, high speed and very little time to react.

That is why many hamstring injuries occur during sprinting or fast acceleration. Not because the hamstring is simply “weak”, but because the load required at that moment is greater than what the muscle-tendon structure can tolerate.

That gap between load and capacity is the key.

Why the problem does not simply disappear

You would expect hamstring injuries to decrease. We have better data, better strength training, better monitoring and more scientific insight.

Still, the problem remains significant.

One possible explanation is that football itself has changed. The intensity is high. Teams press more aggressively. Defensive lines are higher. Players have to attack and defend larger spaces more often. The match calendar is busy, leaving less time for real training and more time spent recovering towards the next game.

That creates a difficult balance.

Players need enough high-speed running and sprint exposure to prepare their hamstrings. But too much sprint load, poorly timed or progressed too quickly, can increase the risk.

Too little speed does not prepare you for speed.
Too much speed at the wrong time can push you over the edge.

That is why hamstring prevention is not only about becoming stronger. It is about the right combination of strength, speed, recovery, timing, match context and individual load capacity.

Not every hamstring injury is the same injury

A hamstring injury is often treated as one single category, but that is too simple.

The hamstrings consist of different muscles: the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus. The exact location of the injury matters a lot.

A pure muscle injury is not the same as an injury at the muscle-tendon junction. An injury involving the intramuscular tendon often requires more caution. A proximal hamstring tendon problem high near the sitting bone is a different story again.

The location has a major influence on the expected recovery time.

A limited muscle injury can sometimes recover relatively quickly. An injury at the muscle-tendon junction or with tendon involvement often takes longer and has a higher risk of reacting if the build-up is too fast. Tendon-related problems usually require an even more gradual approach, because tendon tissue responds more slowly to load than muscle tissue.

The injury mechanism is also important.

A sprint-related injury requires a strong focus on speed, eccentric strength and strength in lengthened positions.
A stretch-type injury, for example during an extreme lunge or sliding action, often requires more attention to control in larger ranges of motion.
A proximal hamstring tendon problem requires careful progression of hip-dominant strength, tendon loading and avoiding rapid exposure to compression or stretch triggers.

That is why there is no universal hamstring protocol that works for everyone.

The better questions are:

Where exactly is the injury?
Which structure is involved?
How did it happen?
What load does this player need to tolerate again?
And why was the capacity insufficient at that moment?

The cause is usually a combination of factors

Hamstring injuries rarely come from one single cause.

More often, they result from an interaction of several factors:

• previous hamstring injuries

• insufficient eccentric hamstring strength

• limited strength in lengthened positions

• sudden increases in sprint load

• too little exposure to high speed

• fatigue

• limited hip mobility

• insufficient pelvic or trunk control

• strength deficits in the glutes or calves

• left-right asymmetries

• congested match schedule

• changes in position, role or playing style

• insufficient recovery between intense stimuli

A player can be strong in the gym, but have had too little sprint exposure.
A player can sprint a lot, but lack strength in long muscle positions.
A player can score well in testing, but be fatigued from a busy match period.
A player can run pain-free, but still not be ready for maximal speed under match stress.

That is why hamstring prevention needs to be broader than one exercise at the end of training.

The Nordic hamstring is useful, but not enough

The Nordic hamstring exercise has rightly received a lot of attention. It is a valuable exercise to improve eccentric hamstring strength and can play a role in prevention programmes.

But in football, one exercise is never the full solution.

The Nordic mainly trains a specific type of eccentric knee flexion strength. That is important, but hamstrings need to do more in football.

They need to produce force around the hip.
They need to produce force at length.
They need to work together with the glutes, calves, pelvis and trunk.
They need to tolerate high speed.
They need to handle repeated sprint actions.
They need to function under fatigue and in chaotic situations.

That is why at ORBIT, we approach hamstring strength training more broadly.

We may combine:

The goal is not to do as many hamstring exercises as possible. The goal is to build the right capacity for the player, his position, his injury history and the phase of the season.

What can be screened in hamstring risk?

A good hamstring screening looks further than simply asking: “Are the hamstrings strong enough?”

At ORBIT, we want to understand how the full chain functions. That is why several elements can be assessed.

We look, among other things, at strength in different angles. A player may be strong in one position, but lack capacity when the hamstring becomes longer or when the hip and knee angles change. That matters, because hamstrings are not always loaded in the same position during football.

We can also assess:

• isometric hamstring strength

• eccentric hamstring strength

• strength in short and long muscle positions

• left-right differences

• hamstring-quadriceps ratios

• hip-dominant strength

• glute strength

• calf strength

• posterior chain length

• hip mobility

• rotational capacity of the lower back and trunk

• pelvic control

• jump and sprint capacity

• high-speed running exposure

• fatigue sensitivity

The combination is what matters most.

Limited posterior chain length is not automatically a problem on its own. A small asymmetry is not automatically dangerous either. But when limited mobility, strength deficits, fatigue and a sudden sprint build-up come together, the risk can increase.

Testing is therefore not a prediction with absolute certainty. It is a compass.

It helps us determine where the biggest gain lies: strength, mobility, speed, load management or a combination of these.

Sprint exposure: avoidance is not prevention

A common mistake is avoiding sprinting too much.

This often happens with good intentions. Sprinting feels risky, especially for players with a history of hamstring injury. But football demands speed. If a player never or rarely reaches high speeds in training, he is less prepared when that demand suddenly appears in a match.

Hamstrings need to be regularly reminded of speed.

Not randomly. Not maximally without preparation. But progressively and with planning.

A good progression can include:

The goal is not to maximally load every player every week. The goal is to keep the hamstrings prepared for what football demands.

Too little speed can be a problem.
Too much, too soon or poorly planned can be a problem too.

That is why load management is so important.

Load management: the bridge between gym and pitch

Hamstring prevention does not happen only in the gym.

A player can complete his strength programme perfectly and still become overloaded because of poor distribution of pitch load. On the other hand, a player can accumulate a lot of sprint metres but lack the strength base to tolerate that load well.

That is why strength training needs to be connected to what happens on the pitch.

At ORBIT, we look at the full load picture:

• strength training

• sprint metres

• high-speed running

• accelerations and decelerations

• match minutes

• training intensity

• fatigue

• recovery

• previous injuries

• timing within the week

• individual response

Total distance alone does not say enough. For hamstrings, speed, sprint intensity, repeated accelerations, fatigue and timing of the stimulus are especially important.

A player who played 90 minutes needs a different week than a player who came on as a substitute.
A player returning from injury needs different stimuli than a fully fit starter.
A player with previous hamstring problems requires closer follow-up than someone without that history.

Load management is not about avoiding everything. It is about dosing intelligently so the right stimulus comes at the right time.

Rehabilitation: more than becoming pain-free

When a player does sustain a hamstring injury, rehabilitation needs to go further than simply making the pain disappear.

The player needs to rebuild capacity for football.

A good trajectory usually moves through several steps:

First, control pain and reactivity.
Then restore strength and control.
Next, build strength at length and eccentric capacity.
Then progressively reintroduce speed.
And finally, integrate football actions: sprinting, braking, turning, reacting and repeating efforts under fatigue.

The final phase is often the most important.

Many recurrences do not happen because the player could not jog. They happen because he was not yet ready for maximal speed, unexpected actions or repeated high-intensity stimuli in a match context.

Return to play is not a date.

It is a decision based on strength, speed, pitch load, sport-specific tasks, response after training and the player’s confidence.

What ORBIT does differently

At ORBIT, we approach hamstring injuries and hamstring prevention from a performance perspective.

We do not start from a standard protocol. We start from the question: what does football demand from this player, and where is the gap between load and capacity?

We map out:

• injury history

• mechanism of injury

• location and type of complaint

• strength profile

• strength in different angles

• left-right differences

• posterior chain length

• hip mobility

• glute and calf strength

• trunk and pelvic control

• sprint and running load

• position and playing style

• training week

• match context

• recovery and fatigue

From there, we build a trajectory that combines strength training, field progression and load management.

For some players, the main focus is strength.
For others, it is sprint exposure.
For others, it is the timing of load.
And often, it is the combination.

The goal is not only to make the hamstring stronger. The goal is to make the player better prepared for football.

Prevention during the season

Hamstring prevention does not stop when a player is fit.

That is exactly when maintenance becomes important.

During the season, the key qualities need to keep returning:

• eccentric hamstring strength

• strength in lengthened positions

• hip and pelvic control

• glute and calf strength

• sprint exposure

• high-speed running capacity

• recovery between matches

• individual monitoring

A player who does not reach maximal speed for months is not automatically protected. A player who goes beyond his limit every week is not protected either.

Prevention is the balance between enough stimulus and enough recovery.

Preventing hamstring injuries requires a system

Hamstring injuries are not a simple problem. That is why simple solutions often only have limited effect.

A good approach combines science with context. Strength with speed. Testing with coaching. Load management with the reality of the pitch. Prevention with performance.

At ORBIT in Leuven, we help football players and teams not only treat hamstring injuries, but understand them better and address them structurally.

Not one exercise.
Not one test.
Not only rest.

But a complete system that prepares the player for what football really demands.

Want to know where your hamstring risk lies?

Have you already had a hamstring injury, do you regularly feel tightness at the back of your thigh, or do you want to work more preventively as a player, coach or team?

Book an intake or hamstring screening at ORBIT in Leuven. We assess strength, mobility, sprint load, injury history and sport context, then build a plan to help you become stronger, faster and more durable on the pitch.