The Consortium · From evidence to injury prevention
Goals & timeline
The consortium will bring together researchers, healthcare professionals, and gymnastics experts to develop practical guidelines for preventing injuries in gymnastics. The first phase focuses on reviewing the evidence and building recommendations. Future phases could help turn those recommendations into educational resources and programs for the wider gymnastics community.
Phase 1: Guideline Development
Step 1: Define the Priorities
We’ll start by agreeing on the questions the guidelines need to answer: How are gymnasts getting injured? Where could prevention efforts make the biggest difference? And where do coaches and healthcare professionals need clearer guidance? The Steering Committee will use these questions to set priorities and keep the work focused on the sport’s most pressing needs.
Step 2: Literature Review
We’ll systematically review the research on the mechanobiology of tissues such as tendons, ligaments, bones and growth plates, cartilage, and intervertebral discs to understand what loads lead to damage versus what loads are protective. Methodologists — specialists in how research is conducted and evaluated — will guide the review, while Domain Experts will help interpret what the findings mean for gymnastics. Together, we’ll assess how reliable the evidence is, how it applies to the sport, and where important questions remain unanswered.
Step 3: Draft the Guidelines
We’ll turn the findings into recommendations, considering both the strength of the research and what is realistic in a gymnastics setting. Panel members will first review and vote on draft recommendations independently, then come together for a focused consensus meeting. This will give the group time to work through differences, refine the wording, and distinguish recommendations supported by research from those that rely more on expert judgment.
Step 4: Seek Feedback from the Wider Community
We’ll invite a wider group of reviewers, including coaches, healthcare professionals, and gymnastics federation representatives, to provide feedback on the draft. Their perspectives will help us check whether the recommendations are clear, useful, and feasible across different training environments. This is also an opportunity to identify concerns or practical challenges that the initial panel may have missed.
Step 5: Refine and Publish the Guidelines
We’ll use the feedback to strengthen the recommendations, resolve outstanding questions, and prepare the final guidelines for publication. The finished document will explain what we recommend, why we recommend it, and where uncertainty remains, giving the gymnastics community a shared foundation for injury prevention.
Looking Ahead: Potential Future Phases
Developing the guidelines is the consortium’s focus. Turning them into educational programs and supporting their adoption would extend beyond its scope. These future phases could be led by a nonprofit organization, working alongside experts and gymnastics partners.
Phase 2: Translate Guidelines into Practice
This phase would turn the guidelines into a structured curriculum and practical resources for coaches. The aim would be to help coaches understand the recommendations and apply them in everyday training, with materials that are accessible and useful across different gymnastics settings.
Phase 3: Federation Buy-In and Implementation
This phase would focus on building federation support and working together to introduce educational resources and programs. Partnerships with national and international gymnastics federations could help integrate injury prevention guidance into coach education and support its use across the sport.
The federation-by-federation groundwork for this phase — who decides, which levers exist, and which policy windows are open — is mapped in the Mandate Map.