Assessment of injury risk factors and mechanisms in elite netball

Sports participation carries a high risk of injury with considerable negative effects to individuals, their team, public health and the economy. Netball is a particularly popular female team game with a high risk of injury particularly to the lower limb. However, at present little is known regarding the risk factors and mechanisms of injury in the sport.

This PhD project will develop a multifactorial model to identify the risk factors and mechanisms of injury occurring in the Vitality Netball Superleague. Specifically the first study will develop and validate an injury surveillance system for Netball. The second study will develop video-based methods to assess injury mechanisms in Netball and the third study will utilise the new methods to identify key injury risk factors and mechanisms in the sport.

This research approach aims to identify the complex multifactorial nature of sports injuries and the findings will be used to inform injury prevention strategies in Netball.

Related Research Outputs

Bishop DT, Moore S, Horne S, Teszka R (2014). Attentional capture by spoken language: effect on netballer’s visual task performance. J Sports Sci 32:17, 1611-1620.


Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Miss Sara Horne
Miss Sara Horne - Sara completed a BA (Hons) degree at the West London Institute of Higher Education and gained her MSc in Sport Sciences from Brunel University. She has held the position of Research Fellow in Biomechanics since 2012. Her work spans applied research, consultancy, teaching, and laboratory management. She has contributed to funded research projects with the FA and UEFA and is currently undertaking a PhD focused on injury assessment in elite UK netball. Sara also has an extensive consultancy portfolio, working with elite and junior athletes across a range of sports. She is a qualified Netball coach and an accredited performance analyst. In addition, she oversees the daily operations of the Biomechanics Laboratory and has played a key role in developing its technical infrastructure to support both research and teaching.

Related Research Group(s)

diverse group exercise (1)

Physical Activity in Health and Disease - The centre conducts interdisciplinary research to improve human health and performance through regular physical activity and exercise, and by limiting sedentary behaviour.


Partnering with confidence

Organisations interested in our research can partner with us with confidence backed by an external and independent benchmark: The Knowledge Exchange Framework. Read more.


Project last modified 14/11/2023