Gym strength and match-ready strength are two very different things. You can be genuinely strong in a controlled gym environment and still break down on the pitch, because sport asks your hamstring to work at full speed, under fatigue, repeatedly, in unpredictable situations. If your rehabilitation didn't progressively build that specific type of capacity, the gap between the gym and the game is where re-injuries happen. It's one of the most common patterns Alex sees, and it's very fixable.

It depends on the severity of the injury. A mild hamstring strain typically takes 3–4 weeks, a moderate injury usually takes 6–8 weeks, while more severe injuries can take 10–16 weeks or longer. The most important factor isn't simply how much time has passed—it's whether you've rebuilt the strength, speed and confidence needed for the demands of your sport. Returning too soon is one of the biggest risk factors for re-injury.

Usually not straight away. Returning to team training too early is one of the biggest reasons hamstring injuries keep coming back. Before you return, you need to restore strength, rebuild confidence at top speed, and gradually reintroduce sprinting, acceleration, deceleration and change of direction. The first few weeks back in training carry the highest risk of re-injury, so having a structured return-to-play plan is essential.

Tightness without pain is one of the most common signs that the hamstring hasn't fully rebuilt its load tolerance after a previous injury. It's the muscle's way of flagging that it's being pushed towards its current limit, not that something is torn or damaged. Left unaddressed, that tightness usually either leads to a full injury or causes you to hold back indefinitely. A proper assessment will identify what's driving it and what needs to be done about it.

No. You can book directly with Alex Hassett at RAPID Physio, Dublin 12, without a GP referral. Your initial assessment covers a full evaluation of your hamstring, strength and power testing, and a personalised rehabilitation programme emailed to you the same day.

Because feeling okay and being truly ready are two very different things. Pain settles before full speed capacity, sprint tolerance, and the ability to repeat efforts under fatigue are restored. If you were cleared based on how it felt rather than objective testing - sprint benchmarks, load tolerance, strength symmetry between legs - there's a good chance the rehabilitation wasn't taken far enough. That's not a criticism of what you've been through. It's just the most common reason this keeps happening.