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AIS and Newcastle Uni research helps athletes bounce back from HAMI
A RESEARCH project focused on helping basketballers to bounce back from hamstring and adductor injuries – the two most common tendon injuries in the sport – is expected to help other Australian athletes.
Researchers from the University of Newcastle (UON) have taken the lead on the research and are working alongside the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and Basketball Australia to improve injury prevention and rehabilitation strategies for athletes. 
The study – astutely named the HAMI Study to investigate Hamstring and Adductor Myotendinous Injury risk factors in basketball – is a collaboration between UON, AIS, Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence, La Trobe University and Charles Sturt University.
The HAMI study has received more than $390,000 in funding from a strategic partnership between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and General Electric (GE) Healthcare which aims to address injuries affecting NBA players and pass those findings on to everyday athletes
UON researcher Suzi Edwards and her team would study top male Australian basketball players over three years to determine the different biomechanical factors involved in muscle injuries.
“Hamstring and adductor injuries are the two leading myotendinous injuries in basketball players, but athletes of any sport are susceptible to injuring their thigh muscles when they attempt to suddenly slow down or speed up their running speed,” Dr Edwards said.
“Our findings will improve the understanding of risk factors of injury and re-injury in basketball and will be applicable to other sports such as soccer and football that have a high incidence and reoccurrence rate of these injuries.”
AIS co-investigator and senior sports physiotherapist, Mick Drew, said as the country’s leading sports training institute the AIS was working collaboratively on the project and being at the forefront of developing new methods to optimise athletic recovery.
“Injuries affect both the long term health of athletes and they also interrupt their athletic careers and goals,” Mr Drew said. “By working with Basketball Australia and University of Newcastle, we have the potential to turn around the rate of injury and to minimise the same injuries reoccurring.”
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