An Evidenced-Informed Approach to How Injured Professional Soccer Players Can Successfully Return to Running and Begin Grass-Based Rehabilitation

BACKGROUND: The transition from the gym to the grass for an injured professional soccer player is the point at which they return to running (RTR) and resume low-intensity soccer-specific skills. Failure to do this correctly could contribute to setbacks, prolonged rehabilitation, and reduced confidence. CLINICAL QUESTION: Given the need to rehabilitate professional soccer players as quickly as possible, how can high-performance practitioners assess players’ readiness for RTR and resuming (low-intensity) grass-based soccer-specific skills? KEY RESULTS: In contrast to the clinical setting, where RTR is often considered in isolation, RTR in professional soccer is not only about RTR but also about reintroducing low intensity, soccer-specific skills. We share the RTR Criteria Checklist, which objectively profiles players in 5 essential domains: strength, capacity, injury-specific qualities, movement retraining, and clinical and psychological readiness. A thorough assessment of these key areas can be incorporated into the rehabilitation process to determine a player’s readiness for RTR and the initiation of low-intensity soccer-specific skills. CLINICAL APPLICATION: The RTR criteria profile players in 5 essential domains and can be adapted by rehabilitation clinicians for different injury scenarios. JOSPT Open 2025;3(3):231-245. Epub 27 March 2025. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2025.0115