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just wondering have has any1 ou there had hamstring injuries during their careers and how did yee get them right.im 23 and hav suffered wit them for the past 3 yrs.have been building them up in the gym during the winter but first game back last week and it went after 20 mins..iv played soccer during the winter and never suffer with them but soon as i go back plying football i always seen to tweak it once a month.

What gym exercises are you doing? Deadlifts and one legged squats where your extended foot is out good and far are best. Also, don't forget to stretch your lower back and your glutes(arse), also make sure and include dynamic stretches into your warm-up, i.e. stretches while moving and get a rope to do some rope stretches which are great for getting deep into the barrel and your glute.

Also if your driving long distances to training now (anything over an hour), take extra long with your stretches, the fact that you say your 23 and have only started having problems since your were 20 suggests that this could have happened when you went to college or started working and are now starting to travel to training. Car\bus\train seats put pressure right under your glute so if your on one for a long time you def want to stretch it out a little bit more.

Finally, those pitches are like bog at the minute and will pull the sh*te out of your hamstrings, if your playing soccer on a field it's strange that you would pull it so quickly playing football but if your playing astro turf it's a totally different ball game and you're probably doing more harm than good.

Double finally, try putting deep heat on your hamstrings, arse and lower back before you go out. Heating up the muscles is your best chance of avoiding pulling them.

you need to do lots of flexibilty, mobility and soft tissue work. along with all the gym stuff

get a foam roller - http://www.physioproducts.ie/store/pc/v ... roduct=288 and use it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJLxruO3su0 every time before the gym, training or match. do static stretching afterwards
also get a hockey ball and do some soft tissue work to really get into the hamstring and glutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyBcYI-BBN8

lots of mobility work. what does that mean? it means improving how your joints and muscles move. http://www.gaahandball.ie/images/gaahandball/fmp.pdf athough handball orientated, its probably the best laid out mobility programme I have seen in GAA circles

in the gym, look at bodyweight single leg deadlifts, raised deadlifts, lots of single leg lunges - forward and reverse
also get yourself over to http://www.totalgaacoach.com/ they know what they are talking about

iv never had problems with it playing soccer in summer or winter,or playing on astroturf or playing racketball and i wudnt be doing half the warm up drills that i would be doing when playing football.cheers for the links lads

Are you running more over longer distances at the football as against the soccer. Hamstring problems can be as a result of some other problem in some other area in the body, e.g. high insteps, if not adequately supported can lead to problems with both shin splints and hamstrings.

One other thing is to get your back checked out. If you have any stiffness or soreness in your lower back it can affect the hammys (and vice versa). Stretching, deep, slow stretches is the best preventative measure. Obviously don't stretch too much if you are injured though

My Hamstring problems started when i was 22. I'm 29 now and have pulled my hamstrings about 8 to 10 times. I pulled my hamstring again mid season last year. and i went to Brian Oxley physio in Timahoe Co. Laois. he was the first physio in seven seasons who put me on a strenghts based program (and i went around to some highly rated pyysio's during this period). I got back to full fitness withn six weeks any previous attempts to get back after a hamstring injury failed. Dead lifts and generic gym exercise arn't worth a crap.

I did TRX (similar exercises to identied by another contributor all over this winter... but the hammers started to feel within a few weeks of going back to the field... went back to Oxley a few weeks ago he assesed ny hamstrings and they were week again. I;m back on his strenghts based program. I'll probably be on it for the rest of my time playing football... I'm not going to explain it because it's too complicated. Just go over to him and he will sort you out. Don't do what i did going around to various people thinking getting a rub out would fix the problem because it won't... you obviously have weak hammers and if you don't get them sorted it you will struggle get through any season without pulling them. His number is 0878175468. Best of luck hope it work's out.