IJSPT launches September issue

The International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy published its September 2026 issue on Sept. 1, adding a new batch of peer-reviewed papers spanning sports rehabilitation, return-to-sport progression and clinical testing. The journal describes itself as a peer-reviewed publication covering all aspects of sports physical therapy, and the new papers are posted on the journal’s website with open-access licensing. The September release is Vol. 21, Issue 9, 2026. The issue matters because it mixes original research with clinician-facing review material rather than focusing on a single body region or sport. Several of the newly posted papers address questions that show up regularly in outpatient sports and orthopedic practice: how to progress return after ACL reconstruction, what stretching adjuncts add in youth athletes, and whether impairment-based rehab changes muscle characteristics in chronic ankle instability. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) ### What exactly was released this week? Vol. 21, Issue 9, 2026 includes articles published Sept. 1, 2026 on the IJSPT site, according to the issue labeling on individual papers. The journal’s platform lists the September papers under the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy and tags them by article type, including original research and clinical commentary/current concept review. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) The journal’s home page and article pages show that content is distributed through a Scholastica-hosted site and carries Creative Commons licensing on the articles reviewed here. That makes the material directly accessible to clinicians, students and educators without a paywall. ### Which studies are most immediately useful in clinic? Carlos Salvador-Huerta and co-authors reported in a randomized controlled trial that a contract-relax proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation protocol improved hamstring flexibility in adolescent soccer players, while the addition of neuromuscular electrical stimulation did not appear to add clear extra benefit. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) The study included 47 youth soccer players with a mean age of 13.2 years and tracked flexibility with popliteal angle and sit-and-reach testing, plus countermovement jump performance. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) Abbis Jaffri and colleagues reported that 26 patients with chronic ankle instability who completed an eight-session, four-week impairment-based rehabilitation program showed significant increases in peroneal muscle cross-sectional area, with ultrasound used to assess muscle size and quality. The paper also described the ultrasound approach as a valid, cost-effective way to assess those changes after rehabilitation. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) Sean Hazzard and co-authors published a clinical commentary on return to golf after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction that synthesized golf-biomechanics and ACL rehabilitation evidence into a six-phase progression. The authors wrote that no study had prospectively evaluated a staged return-to-golf protocol after ACL reconstruction and proposed criteria-based progression from putting through unrestricted course play. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) ### Why does the issue lean so heavily toward decision-making tools? The September papers are built around concrete clinical questions rather than broad theory. The hamstring paper compares two intervention setups in adolescent athletes, the ankle-instability paper measures structural change after a defined rehab block, and the golf commentary lays out staged progression criteria when direct sport-specific evidence is limited. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) The journal’s article menu also shows a mix of formats — original research, case reports, systematic reviews, clinical commentary and technical pieces — that are designed for use by practicing sports physical therapists. That structure helps explain why the issue can serve both day-to-day outpatient care and student learning. ### How does open access change who can use this? The IJSPT site shows the September articles as freely available with article pages, abstracts, citation details and downloadable files. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) That means a clinician can move from headline to abstract to PDF without institutional access, and a student can review methods, figures and appendices directly from the issue pages. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) A May 2026 IJSPT editorial on the journal’s partnership with the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy explicitly framed that effort around expanding access in sports physical therapy research. The September issue extends that model by posting new clinical research and commentary in the same open web format. ### What should readers watch next inside the issue? The journal’s site lists the September 2026 papers now, and article pages include DOI information, citation formatting and downloadable datasets or figures where provided. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com) Readers tracking the issue can follow additional September postings through the IJSPT issue page and article index as more papers are surfaced under Vol. 21, Issue 9, 2026. (ijspt.scholasticahq.com 1) (ijspt.scholasticahq.com 2)