Injury Prevention
Injury prevention is a crucial part of every player’s journey. Many common injuries can be avoided, or the severity reduced, by adopting smart training habits and protective strategies.
Prep-to-play
The Prep-to-Play program, developed by expert researchers, helps reduce the risk of concussion and ACL injuries in community level Australian Football.
It includes a structured warm-up and strength routine proven effective in female players, with principles that apply equally to males. Integrating Prep-to-Play into training supports safer, stronger performance for all athletes.
Mouthguards
The AFL strongly recommends that players wear mouthguards during all contact training and match play.
Dental injuries—such as loosened or dislodged teeth—are common in contact sports but largely preventable. A properly fitted mouthguard helps absorb impact to the face and jaw, significantly reducing the risk of serious dental trauma.
There are three types of mouthguards:
Made from a dental impression of the players own teeth, which offer the best protection and usually a greater level of comfort.
Can be bought at pharmacies and sporting goods retailers. Although they are reported to be less comfortable and potentially less well fitting, they are certainly preferable to using no mouthguard in reducing the risk of dental injury.
An instrumented (or ’smart’) mouthguard (IMG) is a custom fit mouthguard which protects the teeth and through inbuilt sensors (‘instruments’) provides information on head impact accelerations (HIA) while being worn.
IMGs are used in elite rugby with real time data being used to assist medical staff in identifying players with a suspected concussion.
There is no ‘normative’ data to determine what number or force of head impacts constitutes either an immediate or potential long-term risk to a player's health, nor is there a single threshold that predicts concussion. As such, the priority should always be to remove any player with a suspected concussion from training/playing with prompt referral to a medical practitioner for assessment.
Players who are considering purchasing/wearing an IMG should consider the following:
- Cost: IMGs are relatively expensive compared to more traditional mouthguards
- Fit and comfort: IMGs are bulkier than standard custom fitted mouthguards (due to the sensor)
- Maintenance: IMGs require maintenance and regular charging (meaning they may be left behind (e.g. on a charger) and taken to matches / training when needed)
- Data privacy: Understand where your personal data will be stored, who has access to the data, and on what basis it will be used / shared.
Headgear
There is limited evidence for the role of commercially available protective headgear in concussion prevention for Australian Football, although these products may help prevent cuts, abrasions and facial fractures.
The AFL, in collaboration with independent biomechanics expert Dr Andrew McIntosh, has developed the Australian Football Headgear Standards. The standards aim to support the development and manufacturing of headgear suitable for Australian Football, which may help reduce the impact forces or acceleration of the head following a knock.
The AFL is also committed to supporting research that assesses whether headgear that meet these standards can reduce the severity of head trauma and the risk of concussion in Australian Football. In the meantime, players who choose to wear headgear during training or matches are encouraged to wear headgear that complies with the AFL Headgear Standards, once they become available.