Reflections on the UKSCA 2026 Annual Conference, celebrating member achievements, professional development and the future direction of the association and PSCJ.

Athlete monitoring in low-resource sporting environments, exploring practical, sustainable methods used in Ghanaian football and school sports.

Examining how different sprint pedal resistances during heat-based sprint interval training affect repeated sprint ability, cycling performance, muscle oxygen use and recovery.

Explores how relative age and biological maturation influence performance profiling in youth football, highlighting implications for talent identification and player development.

Explores female footballers’ perceptions, preferences and barriers around menstrual cycle tracking, with practical recommendations for adapting training load and improving athlete buy-in.

Explores athlete, coach and support staff perspectives on Relative Energy Deficiency in sport (REDs), highlighting education, individualised care and the coach–athlete relationship.

Examines the measurement reliability of the run-specific knee isometric-push assessment for profiling force-time performance and injury-related asymmetries in adolescent athletes.

Examines relationships between pick-up acceleration, isometric strength and jump performance in youth football, highlighting early-phase force development as a key predictor of acceleration performance.

Examines how biological maturation and body size influence strength classification in UK youth ice hockey players, highlighting maturation-sensitive centiles and allometric scaling.

Examines how verbal cueing influences landing mechanics and measurement reliability, including landing height, position, depth and peak vertical ground reaction force.

Presents expert-informed recommendations for force plate testing before arduous military training, identifying IMTP, countermovement jump and drop jump measures for neuromuscular profiling and physical-readiness assessment.

Explore how technical exercise proficiency and power clean progression influence judo-specific muscular strength development in novice judokas.

Examines eccentric hamstring strength during fixture congestion in professional football, showing stable force despite increased match frequency and supporting micro-dosed Nordic hamstring exercise.

Identifies expert consensus on essential components of school-based strength and conditioning, prioritising safety, coaching quality and developmentally appropriate training.

Presents an international expert consensus framework for criteria-based rehabilitation and return to performance following climbing injury, integrating physical capacity, climbing exposure and psychological readiness. Ehiogu

Examines the reliability and measurement error of a climbing-specific upper-extremity testing battery for monitoring finger and shoulder strength and endurance during rehabilitation.

Reviews rehabilitation, outcome measures and return-to-climbing criteria following musculoskeletal injury, highlighting gaps in objective progression and return-to-performance guidance.

Understanding and leveraging incentives is key to influencing behaviour and driving success in strength and conditioning.

S&C coaches are uniquely positioned to understand the psychological pressures that accompany athletic performance.

Clarity and guidance to improve practitioner application and understanding of plyometrics - adaptations, movement strategy, exercise prescription and exercise progressions.

‘Stiffness’ as an integral component of performance but we often lack the biomechanical understanding to grasp how it impacts human movement performance.

Editor’s letter outlining the future vision for PSCJ, including expanding article types, increasing accessibility, and progressing toward journal indexing.

Longitudinal study examining Nordic hamstring exercise performance during fixture congestion, highlighting eccentric strength stability, limb asymmetry, and implications for injury prevention in professional football.

Systematic review exploring how menstrual cycle phases influence neuromuscular performance, reactive strength, impulse and stretch-shortening cycle force-time metrics in women.

Explore how swing speed training impacts clubhead speed, ball velocity and carry distance in elite golfers, comparing driver vs speed stick protocols.

An evidence-informed youth strength and conditioning programme using physical literacy and motor competence to enhance engagement and development in 11–14-year-olds.

Associations between maximal muscle strength, power and driver club head speed in elite male and female golfers, with practical training insights.

The robust approach to take is to focus on outcomes and whether the innovation leads to better results.

An in-depth exploration and description of the autism spectrum disorder, with crucial information for S&C coaches, followed by a discussion of effective coaching strategies for working with the autistic population.

The Skill-Will Matrix creates an outline for optimal communication strategies to jumpstart a performance department's evolution towards an ideal organisational workflow.

Emily Handyside is the coaching lead at UK Coaching, delivering learning and development for coaches across all sports.

A reflective look at the evolution of Professional Strength and Conditioning as its long-standing editor hands over the baton, exploring the balance between research, practice, and the future of coaching.

Guidelines for submitting quantitative or qualitative case studies to Professional Strength and Conditioning, outlining structure, methods, analysis, and practical applications for coaches.

A comprehensive guide for sporting organisations on designing effective strength and conditioning internships, covering recruitment, legal status, professional development, and structured pathways to enhance intern employability.

Practical guide for S&C coaches on measuring and training vertical leg and joint stiffness, using field-based tests plus targeted strength and plyometric work.

A coaching-focused review outlining key physiological, psychological and social factors affecting adolescent female athletes, offering practical guidance and the Engage–Enthuse–Empower framework to support their development, confidence and long-term participation in sport.

Discover what's inside PSCJ Issue 76, featuring research on golf performance, movement screening, CMRJ testing, post-match training, athletic motor skills, and grassroots strength and conditioning.

Comparison of strength training vs strength plus micro-dosed swing speed training in golf on clubhead speed, efficiency of strike / smash factor and physical capacity in university golfers.

Examination of full and modified FMS™ scores in football players, exploring links with sprint speed, jump performance and movement quality across sex, age and playing position.

Explores the rationale for immediate post-match lower-body resistance training in elite soccer during congested fixture schedules, examining recovery demands, strength maintenance, injury risk and applied programming strategies used within a UEFA Champions League environment.

Discover how Athletic Motor Skill Competencies (AMSCs) enhance youth motor development, physical literacy, performance and long-term participation in sport and physical activity.

Learn how to implement and interpret the countermovement rebound jump (CMRJ) to assess slow and fast stretch-shortening cycle performance within a single, time-efficient test.

Grassroots sport is the foundation of lifelong participation and talent development. Discover how strength and conditioning can enhance safety, inclusion, physical literacy and long-term engagement.

Explore the reliability of plyometrics and jump height testing using wearable technology, highlighting key insights into measurement error in youth athletes.

Explore the risks and benefits of lumbar spine flexion during lifting, challenging the traditional emphasis on maintaining a neutral spine.

Ian Jeffreys explores how systems thinking can help strength and conditioning coaches understand complexity, improve decision-making and optimise athlete performance.

Qualifications and Skill Sets Required for S&C Employment; Risks/Rewards of Lumbar Flexion During Lifting; The Role of systems thinking.

At some point in our careers and our personal lives all of us will have faced doubts and questioned ourselves. This should never be considered as unusual or even as a sign of weakness.

Four topics from two points of view: the practical and the philosophical; The philosopher coach: applying time-tested wisdom in the modern world; The Wisean Conference 2023: We are courageous - speaking out boldly and acting for change

Discover why psychosocial coaching matters in strength and conditioning and how developing psychological, pedagogical, philosophical and sociocultural competencies can enhance athlete-centred coaching.

Explore a modern perspective on anatomy and biomechanics, examining how passive tissues, fascia and mechanics influence movement, force transmission and athletic performance.

Psychosocial Coaching; Career Periodisation; Anatomy and Mechanics and updates on Equality; Diversity and Inclusion in S&C.

Explore an evidence-based action statement for the long-term athletic development of Gaelic games players, providing practical guidance for coaches, clubs, schools and player pathways.

Discover how a gamespeed approach transforms speed and agility training by using context, decision-making and sport-specific movement to enhance performance.

An action statement for Gaelic Games player development; The Importance of Diversity in S&C; Using Context and Gamespeed to transform Speed/Agility training.

Explore how COVID-19 isolation affected athletes’ strength and conditioning practices, training intensity, goals and potential detraining.

Ian Jeffreys presents ten practical tools to help strength and conditioning coaches apply systems thinking and make more effective, context-specific decisions.

Explore the importance of sleep for athletes and practical sleep hygiene strategies to support recovery, performance, well-being and injury prevention.

S&C practices during COVID-19 isolation; Ten Tools for the Systems Thinking Coach; Sleep Hygiene for athletes.

Explore the constraints-led approach in strength and conditioning and how manipulating task, environmental and performer constraints can enhance movement learning and performance.

Explore antenatal considerations for female athletes, including physiological changes, nutrition, exercise modification, pelvic health and safe S&C practice.

Explore athlete monitoring in weightlifting and powerlifting, with practical methods for tracking training load, fatigue, performance and body composition.

Evaluating the Constraints-led Approach; Pregnancy in the Female Athlete; and Athlete Monitoring for Barbell Strength Sports.

Discover how strength and conditioning can improve golf performance through evidence-based training, biomechanics, injury prevention and physical testing to increase club head speed, driving distance and player resilience.

Learn how to use post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) to improve jump performance through evidence-based warm-up strategies, training protocols and practical applications for both training and competition.

S&C for golf athletes; Utilising PAPE in jump Performance Training, Assessing Performance Changes in Athletes.

Learn how to successfully integrate strength and conditioning into secondary schools, with practical strategies for PE, youth athletic development, resistance training and long-term physical literacy.

Learn how strength and conditioning coaches can recognise, prevent and recover from burnout through practical stress management, healthy boundaries and supportive workplace cultures.

How Best to Integrate S&C in Secondary Schools; Career Advice and the Girl's Pathway; Burnout: How to Avoid It.

Explore how an eight-week strength training programme influenced jump performance and bilateral deficit in Premier League academy soccer players.

Explore physical testing and monitoring practices in elite male football, including GPS, body composition, CMJ, heart rate and player wellness.

Ian Jeffreys explores the theory-practice gap in strength and conditioning and how systems thinking can help academics and coaches build a bridge from both sides.

Strength Training and Jump Performance in Academy Soccer Players; Traversing the S&C gap; Physical Testing and Monitoring in Elite Male Football.

Discover the health benefits of youth resistance training and learn how safe, supervised programmes can improve strength, confidence, movement skills and lifelong physical activity.

Learn how integrating psychological skills into on-pitch football conditioning can improve performance, resilience and decision-making through an evidence-based, periodised coaching approach.

Psychosocial Coaching Practices; Youth Resistance Training; and Integrating on-pitch Conditioning in football with Psychological Outcomes.

Explore a professional judgement and decision-making framework for S&C coaching, integrating athlete needs, coaching knowledge, context and reflective practice.

A Framework for Professional decision-making; University Coaches in the UK and Ireland; Contextology, a new approach to Effective Coaching?

Learn how cluster set configurations can enhance resistance training by managing fatigue, maintaining movement quality and improving strength and power through evidence-based programme design.

Discover how strength and conditioning coaches can use metrics effectively without becoming overly reliant on data, balancing measurement with professional judgement, context and athlete-centred decision-making.

Using Cluster Sets in Resistance Training; Distinguishing Metric Optimisation and Metric Fixation; An Introduction to the UKSCA Pathway.

Explore how isometric strength training (IST) can help maintain vertical jump performance in elite volleyball players during Olympic preparation while reducing fatigue and preserving time for technical and tactical training.

Learn how qualitative technique analysis can improve agility performance by using biomechanical principles to evaluate movement, identify technical faults and design targeted coaching interventions for change of direction actions.

Ian Jeffreys examines how strength and conditioning coaches are educated, advocating systems thinking, practical experience and context-driven learning.

Educating tomorrow's coach; New S&C Professional Pathway; Protocols for jump performance in Volleyball Training; Using Qualitative Analysis for Agility Action Technique.

Explore how biological maturation influences vertical and horizontal jump performance in young athletes and the implications for talent detection and identification.

Discover a practical S&C training philosophy that combines coaching, sport science, resilience and evidence-based practice to optimise athlete development.

Explore strength and conditioning practices in elite male football, including exercise selection, periodisation, plyometrics, programming challenges and player engagement.

Talent detection: age, sex and jump performance; Training Philosophy Development; S&C Practices in Elite Male Football.

Explore the muscle amnesia theory and evidence questioning neural inhibition, with an alternative explanation based on connective tissue mechanics, load and adaptation.

Compare 10/5 repeated jumps and drop jumps for measuring reactive strength index, examining reliability, jump height, ground contact time and practical use.

A Three Year Internship at Sheffield Hallam; Examining the Muscle Amnesia Theory; Measuring the Reactive Strength Index.

How to motivate University athletes using self-determination theory; the dynamic strength index: is this a useful tool when making programming decisions?; Coaching spotlight: How diversity in the team can only help, not hinder, performance

Discover how Self-Determination Theory can help S&C coaches increase athlete motivation, engagement and performance through autonomy-supportive coaching.

The dynamic strength index (DSI) has been proposed as a diagnostic approach to manage strength training - how effective is it?