What ALL Coaches Need to Understand About Hamstrings
Fast, Strong, Injury-Free: The Hamstring Playbook Every Coach Should Know
When it comes to elite sprinting, jumping, and high-speed running, hamstring performance is a make-or-break factor. Strong, well-coordinated hamstrings not only reduce injury risk—they're essential for producing and controlling the explosive forces that drive elite performance.
Yet, hamstring issues remain one of the most frustrating and frequent soft-tissue problems in sport—particularly in track and field. Coaches are often left scratching their heads, wondering: “Why did it happen when everything seemed to be going fine?”
The answer lies not in the hamstring alone, but in how it’s being asked to do too much, often on its own—compensating for gaps in technique, coordination, and support from other key muscle groups.
The 3 Key Function of the Hamstrings During Running
Forget the old textbook that says the hamstring's primary job is to flex the knee. In actual sprinting and running, its real-world tasks are:
Assist hip extension (working with the glutes)
Eccentrically decelerate knee extension (control the swing leg before foot contact)
Isometrically stabilise pelvic tilt (maintain posture through the gait cycle)
Takeaway for Coaches: If you’re not training these functions, you’re not preparing the hamstring for its true athletic role.
Why Most Hamstring Strains Happen (and When)
A staggering 80% of hamstring strains occur in the long head of the biceps femoris, usually during the terminal swing phase—before the foot even hits the ground. That’s right: the injury often happens mid-air, not during ground contact.
At that point in the gait cycle, the hamstring is:
Maximally lengthened (hip flexed, knee extended)
Eccentrically loaded (working hard to slow the leg down)
Managing high-speed deceleration (to prepare for ground contact)
This is a high-risk moment because the hamstring must absorb force while preparing to switch roles—from braking to pushing. If other muscles in the kinetic chain, such as the glutes (hip extension) or obliques (pelvic control), aren’t doing their jobs, the hamstring gets overloaded.
Coach Insight: The long head of the biceps femoris crosses both the hip and the knee, making it uniquely vulnerable during sprinting. It’s the perfect storm: high speed, high stretch, and high responsibility.
What Should You Look For?
Assess not just hamstring strength, but also glute timing, trunk control, and sprint mechanics. Prevention isn't just loading—it’s coordinating.
Weakness in the hamstrings, glutes, or core/obliques.
Overstriding or "reaching" during sprinting
Slow or delayed heel recovery
Athletes who run with a stiff or overly upright torso
Complaints of tightness or soreness after high-speed work—even without fatigue
🧠 Ask Yourself:
Are your athletes relying too much on their hamstrings because their glutes or trunk are underdeveloped—or underused?
What tests or observations can you perform to assess your athletes’ glute, trunk, and hamstring strength and control?
Can you identify which of your athletes struggle most in terminal swing? Is it technical, strength-based, or both?
Best Practice for Coaches: What You Can Do
Here’s how to make your hamstring prevention and strengthening work more purposeful:
1. Train the Hamstring for Its Actual Roles
Eccentric control: Incorporate Eccentric hamstring slides, Nordic hamstring curls, razor curls, and Romanian deadlifts.
Hip extension under load: Use glute-ham raises, sprint drills, sled pushes.
Pelvic control: Add anti-extension and anti-rotation core drills (e.g. deadbugs, Pallof presses).
Eccentric Hamstring Slides
Nordic Hamstring Curls
Dumbell Single Leg Deadlift
Hamstring Circuit
2. Don't Just Train the Hamstring—Support It
Strengthen the glutes for hip extension.
Strengthen the obliques and trunk for pelvic stability.
Use integrated drills that combine sprint mechanics with trunk control (e.g. A-skips with resistance, sprinting from a static hold position).
💡 THINK BEYOND THE GYM
Nordics are great, but if your sprinters move like robots on the track, we’re missing the mark. Strength needs to transfer to sprint technique—make the connection.
3. Timing and Coordination Matter
Include technical sprint drills that mimic the load phase (high-speed mechanics, wicket runs).
Teach athletes how to run efficiently. Poor technique = more load on the hamstring.
🎯 Your Task:
Film 2–3 athletes during high-speed sprinting. Slow it down and observe their terminal swing. Are they overstriding? Is the heel recovery tight or flailing? Use it to start a conversation about hamstring control and sprint mechanics.
🏃♂️ Programming Challenge:
Run a 2-week challenge with your group using a 3-exercise hamstring circuit (e.g. Nordic → SL Deadlift → Hamstring Slides). Track RPE, reps, and quality.
