Dr Dale Forsdyke

Teaching

I have over 20 years experience of teaching in a HE setting. I am extremely passionate about developing students into curious, skilled, and interdisciplinary evidence-informed practitioners within my subject areas.

I am involved in several modules across the BSc Sport and Exercise Therapy degree, and also contribute to some of the shared modules on our programmes such as research methods and ressearch paper. I also am involved in further building the competance and confidence of our sport and exercise therapy students by supervising our sports therapy clinic and applied work with local sports organisations.

Previously, I have also been involved in the delivery and assessment of vocational awards such as L3 and L4 sports massage and delivered sports trauma qualifications for the Football Association. I have also contributed to FA in-service/CPD events across the regions, and at St Georges Park.

I also supervise postgraduate research students at Masters and Doctoral level.

Research

I am a sports injury researcher and have authored and contributed to a range of peer reviewed journal articles, practitioner articles, books, and conferences.

Much of my research is focused on psychological readiness to return to sport following injury, boosting athlete empowerment and adherence during injury, and psychosocial factors influencing an athlete's risk of injury.

Publications

Peer reviewed articles

Salter J., Forsdyke D., Dawson Z., Rymer J., Walsh L., & Mundy P. Reliability and sensitivity of using isometric strength and sprint speed measures in adolescent female athletes Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2024; DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000005029

Forsdyke D, Madigan D, Gledhill A, Smith A Perceived Social Support, Re-injury Anxiety and Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport in Soccer Players Journal of Sport Rehabilitation 2022; 31(6): 749-755. DOI: 10.1123/jsr.2021-0181

Salter J, Cresswell R, Forsdyke D The impact of simulated soccer match-play on hip and hamstring strength in academy soccer players Science and Medicine in Football 2021; 6(4): 465-472. DOI: 10.1080/24733938.2021.1973080

Gledhill A, Forsdyke D, Goom T ‘I’m asking you to believe—not in my ability to create change, but in yours’: four strategies to enhance patients’ rehabilitation adherence British Journal of Sports Medicine 2021;55:464-465. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-102245

Gledhill A, Forsdyke D, Goom T, Podlog L Educate, involve, and collaborate: Three strategies for clinicians to empower athletes during return to sport British Journal of Sports Medicine 2021. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2021-104268

Gledhill A, Forsdyke D Realist synthesis in sport and exercise medicine: ‘time to get real’ British Journal of Sports Medicine 2021; 55: 1064-1065. DOI: 10.1136/BJSPORTS-2020-102073

Gledhill A, Forsdyke D. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure: shouldn’t we be doing everything to reduce sports injury incidence and burden? British Journal of Sports Medicine 2018, DOI:10.1136/bjsports-2018-099208

Gledhill A, Forsdyke D, Murray E. Psychological interventions used to reduce sports injuries; a systematic review of real world effectiveness. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2018, DOI:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097694

Jowett G, Hill A, Forsdyke D, Gledhill A. Perfectionism and coping with injury in marathon runners: A test of the 2x2 model of perfectionism. Psychology of Sport and Exercise 2018; 37:26-32. DOI:10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.04.003

Madigan DJ, Stoeber J, Forsdyke D, et al. Perfectionism predicts injury in junior athletes: Preliminary evidence from a prospective study, Journal of Sports Sciences 2017, DOI:10.1080/02640414.2017.1322709

Gledhill A, Harwood C, Forsdyke D. Psychosocial factors associated with talent development in football: A systematic review, Psychology of Sport & Exercise 2017, DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.04.002.

Forsdyke D, Gledhill A, Ardern C. Psychological readiness to return to sport: three elements to help the practitioners decide whether the athlete is REALLY ready? British Journal of Sports Medicine 2017, DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096770

Forsdyke D, Smith A, Jones M. and Gledhill A. Psychosocial factors associated with outcomes of sports injury rehabilitation in competitive athletes: a mixed studies systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2016;50:537-544. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-094850

Forsdyke D, Gledhill A. Influence of the voluntary isometric contraction intensity in modified proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching on hamstring flexibility. Journal of Sports Sciences 2015;33(sup 1):s109-119.

Forsdyke D. Risk, response, and recovery: the psychology of sports injury. sportEX Medicine 2014;59:10-15. http://content.yudu.com/A2lllr/59MD10-15/

Forsdyke D. It’s all in the mind: psychosocial interventions to improve recovery. sportEX Medicine 2014;60:8-13. http://content.yudu.com/A2sc2k/60MD08-13/

Forsdyke D, Gledhill A. Reaching out for a helping hand: the role of social support in sports injury rehabilitation. sportEX Medicine 2014;61:8-12. http://content.yudu.com/A2x4dn/61MD08-12/

Gledhill A, Forsdyke D.  The challenges of youth: psychosocial response to injury and rehabilitation in young athletes. sportEX Medicine 2015;63:12-17.

Books and book chapters

Forsdyke D, Gledhill A. Electrotherapeutic modalities. In Brukner & Khan’s Clinical Sports Medicine 6^th Edition; Foundations of Clinical Practice, Brukner et al (Eds) 2024 McGraw-Hill Australia.

Forsdyke D, Gledhill A. Sports Psychology and injury Management. In Routledge Handbook of Sport and Exercise Therapy, Ward (Ed) 2024 Routledge, Oxon, UK.

Gledhill A, Forsdyke D (Eds) The Psychology of Sports Injury: From Risk to Retirement 2021 Routledge, Oxon, UK.

Gledhill A, Ahmed, OH, Forsdyke D. Effectively managing ACL injury and return to performance in elite women’s soccer. In The Psychology of Soccer, Dixon, Barker, Thelwell, Mitchell (Eds) 2020 Routledge, Oxon, UK.

Forsdyke D, Gledhill A, Mackay N, Randerson K. Foundations in Sports Therapy 2011 Heinemann, London, UK.

Other contributions

Invited keynote at 9^th UEFA Medical Symposium (2025); Forsdyke D. Mitigating the mind: mental health and injury risk. Lugano, Switzerland.

Invited keynote at BASEM Conference (2022): Forsdyke D. The psychological implications of long-term injury rehabilitation. Brighton, UK.

Invited keynote at BASEM Conference (2019): Forsdyke D. Is my athlete REALLY ready to return to sport following injury?: the role of psychological readiness. Glasgow, UK.

Invited keynote at the 2nd Shoulder Rehabilitation Conference (2019): Forsdyke D. Is my athlete REALLY ready to return to sport following injury?: the role of psychological readiness. Liverpool, UK.

Accepted for oral at BASES conference (2018): Forsdyke D, Smith A, Gledhill A, Madigan D. Social support and psychological readiness to return to sport after injury in soccer players: the mediating role of re-injury anxiety. Harrogate, UK.

Accepted for oral at Football Outcomes - Are We Winning? (2018): Forsdyke D, Salter J, Weston M, Cresswell R. Effect of simulated soccer match play on hip strength. Barcelona, Spain.

Accepted for oral at Future of Football Medicine Conference (2017): Forsdyke D, Gledhill A, Smith A. Psychosocial factors related to sports injury outcomes in elite female soccer players. Barcelona, Spain.

Invited keynote at Running 2017 (2017): Forsdyke D. Rehabilitating the athlete not just the injury: Psychological aspects of running injury rehabilitation. Kettering, UK.

Human Kinetics/BASES Webinar June 16th (2015): Gledhill A, Forsdyke D. Rehabilitating the athlete not just the injury. https://t.co/IeqMi3Jv9A

Professional activities

I have professional body status with the Society of Sports Therapists (MSST) and still work with injured athletes. I have worked with a diverse range of athlete populations and patient groups (e.g., Football Association, Volleyball England, GB Goalball, marathon runners). This is important as it allows me to integrate mine and others research into realistic practice, while being able to share real life examples with our students.

Much of my professional background has been in girls and women's football where I have have acted in science and medical lead roles. I have also worked on the FA Talent Pathway in medical and physical performance coach roles. Additionally, I have short-term experience working for teams at major international tournaments and supporting major events/challenges.

I am also involved in external examination activity for other universities and am part of the University and Colleges Liaison Group for the Society of Sports Therapists.