Table 3.
Theme 3: IPP adoption and implementation is complex and multifactorial.
| SEM level | Category | Quote |
|---|---|---|
| Barriers to IPP adoption and implementation | ||
| Community (AF) | Professional contracts | “We only have a certain amount of hours you can train (…)” (A12) |
| Knowledge and experience | “But some of the young girls here have come from community football clubs. They need to know this. It's crucial” (A12) “Not having an understanding of what you're actually doing. For the first year players, who haven't been exposed to it” (A2) “We are new to it.” (A6) | |
| Organization (Club) | Equipment | “Maybe like, I guess, halfway through the season, towards the end of the season, we were lacking resources, just, bands break and stuff like that” (A11) “(…) there's not enough equipment to use (…)” (A1) |
| Facilities | “(…) space, in the gym, there wasn't a lot of space.” (A8) | |
| Number of staff | “(…) too many (athletes) to the actual individual (staff) sort of training and coaching” (A1) | |
| Interpersonal (AFLW team) | Time allocated by the coach | “(…) we didn't have much time” (A3) “We don't have a lot of time so it's crammed in” (A10) “If you had to go into the physical therapist to get taped, I guess one of the things you would push aside is injury prevention” (A11) |
| Competing demands with club personnel (Time) | “(…) we were always rushed as well and that's the same time as our physical therapist and massage, so you had to get the prep done first and then you could go, get a massage” (A3) It shouldn't be the case but when you're rushed for time, you'd rather miss (injury prevention exercises) than education with the coaches” (A11) | |
| Program structure (Time) | “I think if it went too long” (A5) | |
| Individual (AFLW athlete) | Competing personal demands (Time) | “I guess being a part time athlete you've got to work full time (…)” (A11) “I think like external stuff, like just the amount of … during the week when we're not at the club, and having to work or yeah, go to uni (…)” (A9) |
| Knowledge and experience | “Not having an understanding of what you're actually doing.” (A2) “(…) we're just sort of discovering ourselves as athletes now, because we weren't really before, so just I guess learning your body and that sort of thing.” (A13) | |
| Lack of motivation | I started doing it before every training, and then as the season's gone on, I've stopped doing it and I think it was just because I was tired (…) (A12) “some girls don't actually think it's worth it” (A3) | |
| Current symptoms and injuries | “Sometimes it was easier to just foam roll for a little while because you had so many niggles (…)” (A8) | |
| Organization (Club) | Culture | “(…) just being at an AFL club and being that environment that values that and the professionals there to drive it (…). The fact that we're there in the AFL club.” (A9) |
| Equipment | “Just having the equipment ready to use, (…) there's no reason to not do it, the equipment's there.” (A13) | |
| Facilities | “(…) we've got access to the facilities all the time so you come in and use the ice baths on off days, or any time we want really.” (A11) | |
| Interpersonal (AFLW team) | Support staff | “So, having the strength and conditioning coach take the warm-up, having a physical therapist available to clarify questions (…)” (A2) “(the staff) were always on time. And they were always ready to assist.” (A8) |
| Supervision and feedback | “(…) having coaches there all the time, like high performance, strength and conditioning coaches being there all the time was really beneficial. (…) making sure you are doing it to the best of your ability.” (A11) | |
| Delivery of education | “I think what actually helped now on reflection was when our physical therapist said, the studies all show that this prevents this. And so for me having that evidence made me do it.” (A5) “They were always happy to share information (…)” (A8) | |
| Program structure | “There was often a piece of paper telling you exactly what all the exercises were and then yeah, just them being really well scheduled. So it never really deviated too much.” (A8) | |
| Group enjoyment, fun and motivation | “If we're doing it as a team as well, it sort of makes it a lot more fun. If you're doing planks on your own, it's not as fun (…) doing it as a team is character building” (A13) | |
| Individual (AFLW athlete) | Gaining knowledge (including evidence) | “I think that again what helped me personally was knowing its relevance, and so whether that's just the quick statement about why, for me that's enough, but for other people it might be different.” (A5) “I think having the knowledge of what you're doing (…)” (A6) |
| Motivation | “(…) the knowledge around it, like how it actually does prevent injury (…) it definitely motivated me to do the exercises.” (A7) | |
| Previous injury prevention experience | “Yeah, I had a (injury prevention program when I was playing) rugby union (…).” (A11) “I guess being more open to it because I've experienced it (a groin injury) and relied on an injury prevention program.” (A9) | |
| Current symptoms and injuries | “I think if the girls actually don't have any injuries, that they're feeling fresh and they don't actually have any sore spots, that would actually show them that it's actually working (…)” (A3) | |
In the quotes, (…) is used when the quotes have been shortened. SEM, Socio-ecological model.AFLW = Australian Football League for WomenIPP = Injury Prevention ProgramAF = Australian Football