You’ve done the work in the gym.

You’ve been pushed on the pitch.

You’ve been challenged to sprint, cut and change direction repeatedly.

And now you’re ready for your return to sport.

You feel confident and ready to go.

Like a dog in the starting box, you’re ready to be let loose and absolutely go for it.

 It’s likely been a long road to get to this point.

You’ve been guided through the entire process by your physio, S&C coach and management.

And now the external pressures of performance come in.

The coach or manager wants you to jump straight into match-play.

They expect that you’re ready to play 60, 70, 80 mins.

And as a result of this expectation, this is potentially the most risky phase of the lot.

The same principles that have got you to this point still need to be implemented.

The work doesn’t end here.

You see, this isn’t the end.

It’s the beginning.

You’ve earned the right to get to the start line.

You’ve earned the right to be given that jersey and line out for your team.

But there’s a big difference between being ready to return to match-play and being ready to compete for the full game in back to back weeks.

Load management and gradual progression has got you to this stage.

And now is not the time to throw those two things out the window.

All the hard work that you’ve done in recent weeks won’t be worth anything if you jump the gun at this stage.

It would be a tragedy if you were to pull up now with a re-injury or new injury.

And re-injury becomes much more likely with spikes in load.

So, in clever programming and return to play, avoiding big spikes in load is absolutely essential.

That is why this next phase of the process needs to be carefully managed.

The consistency you’ve built checking in with your body and checking in with your coaches doesn’t stop here.

And now that you’re being introduced to the chaotic nature of match-play…

This phase becomes even less controllable.

So, we need to continue to maintain as much control over your progression as possible.

That is how we minimise risk of injury.

So, we don’t simply return to full training and match-play all of a sudden.

We gradually build back up to it over the coming weeks.

Some days you may be tasked with playing more minutes and some days less.

So, we must be dynamic in our programming and account for this variances in the subsequent sessions.

Always gradually progressing and always working towards that ultimate goal of full training and match-play.

And unfortunately I have some more news for you about when we get there…

I’m afraid once we get back to full training and match-play, the job’s not done either.

You see, what has likely failed you in the past and led to the original injury in the first place is ineffective load management.

So now we must do our best to learn from your previous mistakes.

Now you need to learn how to listen to your body.

Learn to hear the signals throughout the season when you may be doing a little too much.

And learn to make use of the times in the season when you’re feeling good and can therefore push your ceiling upwards.

Your specific S&C work doesn’t stop here.

You need to make it a priority within your week in order to hit relevant physical qualities and specific at-risk sites, in order to retain your current physical level.

It’s likely taken you quite some time to get here.

We don’t want to sacrifice it all now by dropping the ball in the middle of the season.

Maintenance is incredibly important if you’re to stay healthy and remain available for selection.

And some athletes don’t realise how little is actually necessary in order to maintain their current level.

It’s all about being organised, being consistent and sticking to the plan.

Know what boxes you need to tick every week.

Know what your minimum effective dose is to retain your current level in relation to those boxes.

Tick the boxes every single week.

And on weeks when you’re feeling good and have a gap in the fixture calendar, take that opportunity with both hands.

Go after those sought after physical qualities a little more intensively.

Be confident that you can tolerate the spike in load at that point.

And then back off in time to peak again for your next game.

This is where many athletes go wrong.

They aren’t dynamic in their programming.

They aren’t proactive in preempting when the biggest games and most taxing weeks will be.

And they aren’t reactive in regard to how they’re feeling week to week.

They simply wing it throughout the season.

They don’t have any idea what they’re going to complete week to week.

And that’s why they consistently run into problems.

Don’t be that player that doesn’t have a plan.

And don’t be that player that feels that they MUST stick to the plan AT ALL COSTS.

No plan survives contact with the enemy.

And everyone has a plan until they’re punched in the face.

Treat performance less like a battle or a fight.

Elite level performance is a delicate dance between training and recovery.

Make sure you’re leading the dance.

Have a plan but be willing to freestyle if things go awry.

Or you might end up sitting on your bottom again.