Nature of knee injuries in Gaelic football explained

Any type of injury in sport is unwelcome, but knee injuries are particularly complicated to heal.

In the not-so-distant past, a torn anterior cruciate ligament commonly killed the careers of amateur and professional athletes alike.

Louth forward Ciarán Byrne is to miss the rest of the season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury. This is the second time he has suffered a serious knee injury, the first of which occurred in 2016 when Byrne was playing AFL.

Conor Sweeney will miss Tipperary’s season after suffering a cruciate ligament rupture. The All-Star attacker and Premier County captain suffered the injury when knocked to the ground.

Kerry are already without their former captain Joe O’Connor after the Austin Stacks midfielder suffered an ACL injury last September. While it is probable O’Connor will be back playing club football by the end of the summer, the nature of the injury means the midfielder is not expected to play any inter-county football in 2023.

The treatment and rehabilitation of these players back to playing will be the responsibility of the physio, doctor and strength and conditioning coach.

The S&C coach will use current training methods that include strength training, balance training, and individualised instruction about proper positioning and movement.

Such programmes are especially useful for reducing ACL injuries in female GAA players. Due to the bio-mechanical make-up of the female body, females are more prone to ACL injury. The LGFA has embarked on an initiative that will tackle this problem in women's football by educating LGFA members as to how to reduce the risk of ACL injury.

Why do these type of knee injuries occur in Gaelic football? Why does it take such a relatively longer time to