Page 103 - Safe Wrestling

7

Motor Learning, Feedback

and Movement Screening
in Combat Sports: Implications

for Injury Prevention

Marina Dobnik, Rok Vatovec, and Matej Plevnik

© 2026 Marina Dobnik, Rok Vatovec, and Matej Plevnik
https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-570-2.7

Introduction
Combat sports are characterised by frequent physical contact, high me-
chanical loads, and rapid, opponent-driven perturbations, creating a
distinct injury-prevention context (Bromley et al., 2018). Because com-
bat sports involve continuous interaction with an opponent, movement
execution occurs in an open and unpredictable environment, unlike
many sports with more stable and self-paced conditions (Krabben et
al., 2019). Injury patterns in grappling disciplines commonly involve the
knee and shoulder, and a substantial proportion of injuries occur during
training exposure, highlighting the importance of prevention strategies
that can be embedded into daily practice rather than relying solely on
competition-focused measures (Stegerhoek et al., 2025). In this context,
a key challenge is not only improving physical capacities, but also en-
suring that movement solutions remain effective under conditions of
uncertainty, time pressure, and fatigue (Krabben et al., 2019). Motor-
learning research indicates that the way athletes direct attention dur-
ing skill practice influences both performance and learning, with meta-
analytic evidence generally supporting the superiorityofanexternal fo-
cus over an internal focus across motor tasks (Chua et al., 2021). This
insight is practically relevant for combat sports because instruction and
feedback must facilitate adaptable and automated control that can with-
stand opponent-induced disruption (Krabben et al., 2019).
Contemporary ecological dynamics perspectives further emphasise

Plevnik, M., & Dobnik, M. (2026). Safe wrestling.
University of Primorska Press.