Stage one: pain-free basics
Before anything sport-specific, you need full or near-full range of movement, no pain in daily activity, and no ongoing swelling. Chasing sport before this stage is where most setbacks begin.
Stage two: strength symmetry
We compare the injured side against the uninjured side and against your sport's demands. As a general working target for lower-limb injuries, clinicians look for strength within roughly ten percent of the other side before progressing to impact. Below that, the injured limb quietly offloads and something else takes the strain.
Stage three: load, speed and change of direction
Running is reintroduced in graded volumes, then speed, then cutting and pivoting, then contact or competitive intensity where relevant. Each step is added one at a time so a flare can be traced to a specific change.
- Graded running volume before speed work
- Speed before change of direction
- Change of direction before contact or competition
- Fatigue testing — can you still control the movement at the end of a session?
The psychological half of readiness
Fear of reinjury is a well-documented predictor of poor return-to-sport outcomes, and it is not solved by more strength work alone. Graded exposure to the movements you are avoiding, and the confidence that comes from passing objective tests, does far more than reassurance.
Common questions
Can I train around the injury while rehabbing?
Nearly always. Maintaining fitness in unaffected areas keeps you closer to match readiness and protects motivation.
How do you test readiness?
Strength testing, hop and jump testing for lower limb, control under fatigue, and sport-specific drills — compared side to side rather than to an arbitrary standard.
What if my season starts before I am ready?
We will tell you the risk honestly and build the safest available plan. That decision is yours to make with full information.
Why do hamstring injuries keep coming back?
Usually because the return happened before strength at length was restored. It is the classic example of a calendar-based return failing.