Prevention of hamstring injuries through tension inoculation By Jeff Connors, MSCC, University of North Carolina head strength and conditioning coach I had a high level of success throughout my career in improving measurable speed. We improved 40-time records in every position group repeatedly without anxiety about hamstring issues. The most successful off-season produced 26 players under a 4.60 forty time. Always the same surface, same shoes, and same conditions. The protocols and ideas of " track guys " helped me become very creative with my own. Trial and error and science were the recipe 26 | Tactical Training & Conditioning | Fall 2024 for a refined practical perspective toward highly gifted athletes. Over the years I became friends with Boo Schexnayder. Boo once hit me with a statement that reinforced what I had been believing for three decades but could never put on paper: " Sprinting provides more tension to the muscle and connective tissue than anything else you can do and serves to advance the neuromuscular system further than any other form of training. " Sometime later, I attended a clinic where local brainiac Mike Young (a disciple of Booology) stated that " sprinting in itself serves