BACKGROUND: Hamstring strain and anterior cruciate ligament injuries are, respectively, the most prevalent and serious non-contact occurring injuries in team sports. Specific biomechanical and neuromuscular variables have been used to estimate the risk of incurring a non-contact injury in athletes. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to systematically review the evidences for the effectiveness of injury prevention protocols to modify biomechanical and neuromuscular anterior cruciate and/or hamstring injuries associated risk factors in uninjured team sport athletes. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Cochrane Libraries, US National Institutes of Health ClinicalTrials.gov, SPORTDiscus and Google Scholar databases were searched for relevant journal articles published until March 2015. A manual review of relevant articles, authors, and journals, including bibliographies was performed from identified articles. MAIN RESULTS: Nineteen studies were included in this review. Four assessment categories: (i) landing, (ii) side cutting, (iii) stop-jump, and (iv) muscle strength outcomes, were used to analyze the effectiveness of the preventive protocols. Eight studies using multifaceted interventions supported by video and/or technical feedback showed improvement in landing and/or stop-jump biomechanics, while no effects were observed on side-cutting maneuver. Additionally, multifaceted programs including hamstring eccentric exercises increased hamstring strength, hamstring to quadriceps functional ratio and/or promoted a shift of optimal knee flexion peak torque toward a more open angle position. CONCLUSIONS: Multifaceted programs, supported by proper video and/or technical feedback, including eccentric hamstring exercises would positively modify the biomechanical and or neuromuscular anterior cruciate and/or hamstring injury risk factors.

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