Master’s Degree in Sports Medicine for Football

This module will focus on performance enhancement and fatigue management in football. The course will cover various aspects such as assessing different factors to categorize and monitor players’ performance, identifying aspects of fatigue to prevent overtraining or increased risk of fatigue, and understanding the importance of mental and cognitive assessments.

The module will include classes on biomarker monitoring and interpretation, practical physiological heart rate monitoring, body composition assessment, database creation for the medical management of performance data, and follow-up monitoring in a football team.

This module includes techniques such as fatigue endurance on-field and laboratory testing, force-velocity strength assessment, eccentric strength assessment, isokinetic strength testing, and high-intensity functional testing. These assessments are crucial in determining an athlete’s physical capabilities and identifying strengths and weaknesses.

This module on football recovery and management will cover key aspects such as managing recovery during congested and uncongested matches, travel management, sleep management, preparation and medical care for international football tournaments, and practical recovery strategies in football. 

It will be shown the science behind recovery and discuss best practices for optimising recovery in football players. In addition, we will explore practical examples of recovery strategies and highlight the importance of individualised approaches for each athlete.

The course covers nutritional strategies for match performance in football, focusing on the importance of carbohydrates and fats as energy sources, and the specific demands of training and match play for carbohydrates.

Additionally, the course emphasizes the promotion of effective adaptation to exercise training through dietary protein, the importance of proper hydration for football players, and the health and performance implications of dehydration. The course concludes with a discussion on performance-enhancing nutritional supplements for football players.

The module emphasizes the importance of proper nutrition to optimize recovery after matches and training sessions. It covers the use of nutritional supplements for health, adaptation and recovery in soccer players, as well as the impact of hormones on tendon and ligament health and performance.

The module also provides information on the role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of soccer-related injuries, including immune health, as well as practical guidance on creating healthy, performance-enhancing meals and how to implement nutrition strategies in a soccer team environment.

The module begins with general guidelines for injury prevention and management. It will be included topics such as the performance management system in football, and the epidemiology and risk factors of football injuries. The module also covers injury prevention screening in football and the diagnosis and management of injured football players.

The module includes topics such as Biomechanics testing, which focuses on joint ROMs and landing mechanics in football. The module also covers the use of the cutting movement assessment score (CMAS) to evaluate and develop cutting movement quality in football players, analysis of foot plantar biomechanics and boot fit in football, and physiological bases of mobility training. Acute and long-term effects of flexibility training, motion amplitude training, and strength training methods are also included in the program to prevent injuries in football players.

This module begins by introducing the concept of workload control for injury prevention and return to play, and the importance of coordination between sports science and medical departments in a football team. 

The module also includes a detailed discussion on tendinopathy management and understanding pain in the football player. The final section of the module provides a practical overview of recovery strategies, including nutrition, sleep, and other modalities.

This module includes an in-depth discussion on musculoskeletal tissue mechanical properties, physiology of muscle healing, tendon and muscle adaptations in response to eccentric training. It will also cover the physiological bases of de-training in football, muscle strength reconditioning after football injury, and intensive injury reconditioning management in football players. 

Additionally, the module provides insights into reconditioning methodology, progression control, and return to play criteria in football injuries, along with individualized return-to-play strategies within the control-continuous-chaos framework.

The module includes intensive injury reconditioning management and reconditioning methodology, progression control, and return to play criteria. The individualized return to play of the football player within the control-continuous-chaos framework is also discussed. 

Students learn about the application of mechanical load monitoring in different environments, personalized injury reconditioning for elite players, methods to decrease detraining during early phases of injury, and how to use heat, altitude, and aquatic methods for injury reconditioning. Inspiratory muscle training, blood flow restriction training, and the testing and reconditioning process of neuromuscular control in football injuries are also covered.

This module focuses on ligament injuries of the knee joint in soccer, including ACL injury prevention and reconstruction. It also covers the clinical treatment of meniscal and chondral knee injuries, as well as the reconditioning process after lateral meniscus resection.

This module covers the medical description and clinical treatment of the most common shoulder injuries in soccer players, as well as the process of reconditioning and prevention of glenohumeral instability in soccer goalkeepers and the management of concussion in soccer.

This module covers the medical description and clinical management of the most frequent leg, ankle and foot injuries in soccer as well as the treatment algorithm for ankle cartilage injuries in soccer players. The reconditioning process after calf muscle injury, Achilles tendinopathy, prevention of lateral ankle sprains and leg fractures will also be covered.

This module will deal with the organization of medical assistance in training, as well as acupuncture techniques in soccer. Topics such as sideline care and emergency procedures will also be covered. The pre-competition medical evaluation, care and prevention of diseases and the issue of doping in the team environment will be analyzed. Finally, the aspect of preparation and medical care for international soccer tournaments will be addressed.