JOSPT Insights

Hip morphology and hip injuries have been receiving increasing attention, which is a good thing given their prevalence and impact on athletes' health and performance. Today's guests combine the hip and groin field, with the attention that female athletes deserve to their health and performance.
Dr Pim van Klij, who works with Dutch football/soccer powerhouse, Ajax, and Pirette Claes, who is starting her career in sports medicine, discuss the PROFE study. We focus on the work they have been leading to quantify the relationship between groin symptoms, and pubic symphysis radiological findings and skeletal maturity.
Dr van Klij is sports medicine physician and Assistant Professor at Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine. Pirette Claes is a medical intern at Leiden University Medical Centre, and an early-career researcher.
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RESOURCES
Prevalence of symphyseal radiographic findings and relationship to groin symptoms (PROFE study): https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2026.13580
JOSPT focused issue on hip and groin research (July 2026): https://www.jospt.org/toc/jospt/56/7

Tendinopathy will show up regularly in the clinic for many JOSPT Insights listeners. In a person-centred care model, it's important to understand the person with tendinopathy, where they're coming from and what they're experiencing.
Today's guest has been studying patients' experience of different types of lower limb tendinopathies. The results might surprise you, in just how complex and variable people's experiences are.
Max Hopes is an osteopath and researcher (University of Technology Sydney) studying lower limb tendinopathy. Today Max shares some of the early results of his PhD work, and we explore what it means for musculoskeletal practice.
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RESOURCES
Lived experiences of people with tendinopathy: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2026.13666

In last week's episode, Dermot Simpson and Simon Wallace explained the hamstring and rectus femoris rehabilitation pathways that they and their colleagues at the Aspetar Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Hospital have developed to guide daily practice.
In using the rehabilitation pathways, Dermot and Simon, and the team have discovered some clinical pearls that help them help the athletes they're working with. Today, Dermot and Simon are sharing those clinical tips. These are the things that you can do in practice tomorrow to give you and the athlete the best chance of rehabilitation success.
Dermot Simpson and Simon Wallace are sports physiotherapists working at the Aspetar Hospital in Doha, Qatar. Between them, they have more than 2 decades of experience in elite sport, especially in rugby and football/soccer.
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RESOURCES
Aspetar Hamstring Injury Rehabilitation Pathway: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/josptopen.2026.0213
Aspetar Rectus Femoris Injury Rehabilitation Pathway: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/josptopen.2026.0212
Longer muscle length resistance training (systematic review): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41646176/
Nordic hamstring exercise vs. lengthened state eccentric training: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38857522/

If you work with athletes who play any of the football codes, or any field-based sport that involves high-speed running or kicking, you'll surely have hamstring and rectus femoris injuries at the front of your mind. Even if you're not in field-based sports, today's first episode in a 2-part series is a terrific opportunity to review your approach to managing thigh muscle injuries. We're taking a deep dive into best practice in rehabilitation planning. Part 1 explores the components of rehabilitation; part 2 covers the clinical pearls to help you design and deliver the most effective rehabilitation plans possible. Our guides are experienced Irish sports physiotherapists, Dermot Simpson and Simon Wallace, of the Aspetar Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Hospital in Doha, Qatar.
Dermot has spent over 10 years at Aspetar, working with athletes from a range of sports. His clinical and research work is in thigh muscle and groin injuries. Simon applies his expertise to complex thigh muscle injuries, also calf and foot & ankle injuries. Before joining Aspetar, Simon worked for a decade in professional rugby. To learn more from Dermot and Simon, check out their new Reload-Ed platform.
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RESOURCES
Aspetar Hamstring Injury Rehabilitation Pathway: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/josptopen.2026.0213
Aspetar Rectus Femoris Injury Rehabilitation Pathway: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/josptopen.2026.0212

JOSPT Insights episodes often explore what well-functioning teams look like and how they function. Why? Well there's at least 2 important reasons:
Effective athlete centred care depends on the sports medicine, rehabilitation and performance team all co-ordinating to help the athlete get the best out of themselves.

Working in teams and leading those teams well is not about telling people what to do - it's about shaping the path and working together to achieve goals. Effective leaders shape the path and bring people along with them - they don't make it all about themselves.

Today's guest embodies those leadership qualities. Agnes Makowski is a registered International Sport Physiotherapist and has served as Chief Physiotherapy Advisor for Skate Canada since 2014. Agnes has extensive experience working in interdisciplinary teams and supporting athletes from the recreational level all the way to the pinnacle of Olympic performance. Today, Agnes shares her experiences and approaches to working in interdisciplinary teams.
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RESOURCES
Why screening tests to predict sport injury do not work: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27095747/
2022 Bern consensus on shoulder injury prevention, rehabilitation and return to sport: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2022.10952