Damian Harper, PhD

Reminder why eccentric force capacity matters. Damian’s work shows the real eccentric demands in sports. Eccentric actions that attenuate forces can create an advantage or lead to damage. Is your eccentric training doing enough?

@CoachKenVick Thanks Ken…that’s why we referred to deceleration specific-load as a “critical mediator”!! 😉 bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/4/1/e0…

🚨 Biomechanical & neuromuscular performance requirements of horizontal deceleration… 📌 High Impact Forces ⚡️ (2.7 x ⬆️ than acceleration) 📌 Braking for Rapid COD 🔑 📌 High Eccentric Muscle Forces 🟰 Risk of Damage 📌 Braking Kinematics 🦵 🔐 link.springer.com/article/10.100…

🆕"This review evaluated methodologies used to quantify high-intensity patterns in male elite ⚽️" ➡️ Providing recommendations to support more individualized & context-sensitive monitoring frameworks 👉@paulmcgrath_ @DHMov et al. 2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 📂Open Access: termedia.pl/Current-approa…

New Paper Published 🚨 “Current approaches to measuring high-intensity locomotor actions in adult male professional soccer: A Scoping Review.” termedia.pl/Current-approa…

🆕 Latest just published... Intraday and interday reliability of horizontal upper body push and pull isometric strength qualities using @VALDPerformance Dynamo Max Fantastic work from @Uni_Lancashire PhD student Ivan Curovic 🔓mdpi.com/2673-7078/6/1/… #Isometric #Strength

Developing the qualities needed to DECELERATE & BRAKE rapidly🏈 What a great few days at the Elite Football Rehab Conference in Indianapolis 🇺🇸 ⚡️Bonus: Got to watch the NFL combine, and learn from some great performance practitioners!! Thanks to @erikMeira for the invite

📍Lucas Oil Stadium, Indy 🇺🇸 NFL combine 🏈 Elite Football Rehab Conference 🎤 Human Braking Performance @BrakingPerform

@SimonBrundish Thanks mate, and very nice read on your recent post!

@DHMov @NFL @erikMeira @NFLCombine @nflnetwork @NFLUKIRE @NFLonFOX @ESPNNFL Very cool mate, very cool

Excited to be presenting at the 2026 Elite Football Rehab Conference this week in Indy, USA! 🇺🇸✈️ NFL Combine Capital & Combine Week! 🏈 Honour to share some of my latest work on DECELERATION AND BRAKING alongside some of the best minds in the NFL and performance space. #NFL

📊 Possession in Motion: What Really Drives Success in the Premier League? Our new paper in @BiolSport tinyurl.com/453j4x9w 5 seasons in the #EPL ⚽️ Possession Matters 🏃 Running OOP is important 🏆 Teams respond to opposition quality 🏃💨 Only sprint associated to PPG

Context > total load in @premierleague Allen et al show possession is strongly linked to success with higher out-of-possession and lower in-possession running associated with more points. Total load matters less, only sprint distance relates to PPG 🔓DOI: doi.org/10.5114/biolsp…

2026 is moving fast 🚀 Nice to publish some applied performance projects & see the impact of our work! 📌 Assessing deceleration performance 📌 Evaluating rehab & RTP procedures in pro ⚽️ 📌 ‘Match-load’ construct in pro ⚽️ 🥇 Most read ⭐️ 1500 citations #2026research

Now at 46 responses for this survey on importance of HAMSTRINGS for change of direction speed!! Would love to get to 5️⃣0️⃣ so we’ve left it open till end of this month. If you’ve got 15 mins, we’d love to hear your thoughts… 👇🏻👇🏻

Potential influence of a concentrically biased training programme...⁉️

🚨 BRAKING step forces in a 505 change of direction test (high speed deceleration) Here we show data on ALL braking steps… 🔎 Brake Step 1 🔎 Brake Step 2 🔎 Brake Step 3 🔎 APBS 🔎 PBS 🔎 FFC Forces highest in early braking steps!! Read here: link.springer.com/article/10.100…

The biggest limiter of your speed is the ability of your BRAKES❗️ - Can I STOP❓🧠 - How much braking FORCE can I tolerate❓🧠

@matt_layton5 @DCGreyMattersUK @Jattaylor @SageJournals Very interesting piece. It also raises questions around the choice of metrics used from those tests - all largely based on restrictions of the measurement devices used in EPPP profiling.

🚨New Publication 🚨 with @DCGreyMattersUK & @Jattaylor investigating Discriminating capacities of physical performance testing in male soccer academy programmes. Open access via the link below, check it out 👇🏻 lnkd.in/dA6JqU3R @SageJournals

🆕"This narrative review aims to give an overview of aetiological models, decision-making frameworks, & return to sport approaches reported within the current literature on ⚽️" 👉@ben_dixon23 Jill Alexander @DHMov 2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 📂@SageJournals Open Access: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17…

🚨 New article published now! ⚽️ 📄 “Evaluating rehabilitation and return to play procedures in male professional football: A narrative review” 🔓 Open Access 📍 IJSSC 🔗 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17… Amazing to get another article out with co-authors @DHMov & Jill Alexander