Accrington Stanley FC Youth Team Injury Audit and Pre season planning power p...
LITERARY REVIEW
1. To Investigate The Effectiveness Of
Injury Prevention Techniques In Elite
Youth Soccer
B00053157
Roisin Galvin
Department of Business
School of Business & Humanities
Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown
Dublin 15
Word Limit for Assignment: 1,500 words Actual Word Count: 1,411
Sports Management and Coaching
Power StrengthSpeed
09/03/15
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Introduction
This report will review the current literature that relates to the effectiveness of injury
prevention methodsin elite youth soccer. As part of this, several studies which have been
conducted on injury prevention will be assessed. Findings from this research study will be
presented throughout the report and concluded at the end. The various methods of injury
prevention will be analyzed and a best practice approach will be suggested
(recommendationssection). The recommendationssectionwillalsohighlightanygapsinthe
field and areas which need to be researched further.
The literature being evaluated focuses on the demographic of boys and girlsaged between
eightandeighteen.Bothsexeswere includedtodistinguishhow the populationscompare in
terms of the injuries suffered and the type of injuries being presented.
Itiswidelyacknowledgedintheliteraturethat injurypreventionmethodsare notaseffective
with adult populations as their injuries may have been present for a prolonged periodand
they have fully developed bodies and movement patterns (gait) which are consequently
difficult to modify or influence. This concept is supported by Van Beijsterveldt et al., (2012)
who recorded no differences between the number of injuries recorded between the
intervention team who were completing an injury prevention programme and the control
team who were completing training as usual.
Injury Occurrence
Price et al.,(2005) foundthat a playersuffersonaverage 1.3 injuriesperseasonandmisses
approximately twenty- four days of training and competition per injury. This poses a
substantial problem for youth teams, it has been hypothesized that athletes must practice
for at least three hours a day for ten years to achieve maximum skill development. This
benchmark may be unattainable as Price et al., (2005) found that on average players were
“missing 6% of their development time” due to injury.
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Injury Prevention Programmes
Three studies examined the effect implementing the FIFA 11 programme had on injury
prevention. The three studies were as follows Van Beijsterveldt et al., (2010) , Junge et al.,
(2010) and Steffen et al., (2007). The FIFA 11 was developed as a structured warm up
programme targeting the most commonly occurring soccer injuries (ankle, knee,groin and
hamstring strains). Although all three studies implemented the identical prevention
programmed the differences in results were substantial.
Junge et al., (2010) found that “teams who performed the FIFA 11 had an 11.5% lower
incidence of match injuriesand a 25.3% lower incidence of training injuries”. Contrary to
these findingsVanBeijsterveldtetal.,(2010) recordednodifferencesininjuriesbetween the
prevention and control group.
Compliance withthe FIFA 11exerciseswasextremelypoorinall threeof the aforementioned
studies:60%,64% and57% respectively.Thismeansthatthe mostcompliantteamrepeated
the FIFA 11 in only 64% of their total training sessions.
However in all three studies the fair play component of the programme was not included.
Thisrepresentsamajorflawseeingasthe fairplayadvice includedinformationpertainingto
the rulesof the sport, ethical playand acceptable behavior.Thisfairplay advice couldhave
further reduced injuries as it would have impacted the athletes’ behaviors’ in training and
matches.
Thispoorcompliance recordedinthese studiescouldbe attributedtoinsufficientmotivation
and education programmes.
In the study conductedbySteffenetal.,(2007) considerable effortswere made tomotivate
the intervention teams to include the exercise programme as part of their standardized
warm- up routine. The team were given balance mats and brochures outlining the
programme however compliance was still remarkably low at 57%.
Soligard et al., (2010) found that players with high compliance to the injury prevention
exercises had a 35% lower risk of injury. Coaches who had previously utilized injury
prevention training coached teams with a 46% lower risk of injury.
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These findingsare complimentedby Kiani etal., (2010) who combinedan injuryprevention
programme withaneducationworkshopforthe athletes’parents.Thisinterventionresulted
in a 94% adherence to the injury prevention programme.
Stress and Recovery
Brink et al., (2010) examined the relationship between stress and injury occurrence. This
study states that physical stress is related to traumatic injuries. Brink et al., (2010) noted
that “when athletes experience stressful situations, psychosocial stress contributes to their
response”. The consequences of this increased stress are augmented muscle tension, a
narrowing of the visual field and a reduced attention span. In light of these findings it is
appropriate toask whymore teamsare not usingthe RPE scalesas well asdailytrainingand
psychological stress logs in order to identify players who may be at risk of developing an
injury.
Coaches’ Behaviours and Education
Barnettetal.,(2014) notedthatthe injurypreventionworkshopincreasedcoaches’attitudes
toward conducting a programme at the beginning of the practice and improving player
cutting and landing technique. The injury prevention programme workshop increased
coaches’attitudestowardconductinga numberof preventionexercisesbefore trainingand
matches. The injury prevention programme workshop also increased coaches’ intent to
implementaprogramme nextseason.Howeverthe studyalsofoundthat this “highlevel of
coach intentto introduce an anteriorcruciate ligamentpreventionprogramme intotraining
does not translate into effective implementation”.
It is of concern to note that 52% of coaches strongly disagreed with the statement below
“ I wouldbe willingtohave myteamperformananterior cruciate ligamentinjuryprevention
programme if the programme required fifteen minutes of practice time”
These findingsare of particularconcern as Kiani et al. (2010) foundthat “femalesare seven
timesmore likelytosufferanACL injurycomparedto theirmale counterparts”.This type of
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injury often presents long term consequences including an insufficient recovery and
secondary osteoarthritis of the knee.
The study conducted by Soligard et al., (2010) included a number of feedback phone calls
between the researchers and coaches. These were standardized telephone interviews used
to assess coaches attitudes and beliefs. However this may have led to the production of
unreliable data as coaches may have suffered from “groupthink” or perhaps they were not
honest when relaying their answers to the researchers. To overcome this, the researchers
couldhave implementedanumberof anonymousfeedbackformswhere coacheswouldfeel
more inclined to provide their honest opinions of the study. This study also presented an
unexpectedresultasfouroutof the tenteamswithlow compliance presentednoinjuriesat
all.This can be put downto luckas thisfindinggoesagainstthe acceptedtheoriesoninjury
prevention.
There may have been a placebo effect present in several of the studies. Coaches of the
control group may have unknowingly included exercises from the FIFA 11 in the training
sessions, this is extremely likely as the researchers attended less control group training
sessions ( and therefore the researchers didn’t record the content of the control groups
training sessions) as the aim of the various studies was to reduce injury in the prevention
group.
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Conclusion and Recommendations
This literature review has presentedsome of the merits of implementing the FIFA 11 injury
preventionprogramme.Junge etal.,(2010) foundthat playerswhoperformed“the 11” had
an 11.5% lowerincidence of match injuriesanda 25.3% lowerincidence of traininginjuries.
These findingswerealsorestrictedbyintrinsicfactorssuchasthe motivationof the athletes’,
compliance with the programme and the coaches’ education and attitude towards injury
prevention.
Howeverthesefindingsare compromisedbythe factthatthe exercisesare notsportspecific.
Onlythree of the exercisesincludesoccerspecificmovements,these exercisesare the cross-
country skiing, plyometrics and bounding.
The remaining eight exercises included mainly throwing exercises which focus on the
muscles of the upper body. The inclusion of these exercises are not justified as Kiani et
al.,(2010) recordedthat “80% of soccer injuriesoccurinthe lowerextremities”.The FIFA 11
injurypreventionprogramme therefore ismore suitedtoathleteswhoplaythrowingsports
such as handball and basketball, where movements such as chest passes, sideways bench
and figure of eights are frequently seen.
There appears to be broad support for combining an injury prevention programme withan
educationprogramme forboththe coachesand the parentsof the athletes.Future research
shouldbuildonKiani etal.,(2010) findingsandintroduce arevisedFIFA 11injuryprevention
programme whichfocusesonsports specificlowerbodyexercisessuchassquats andlunges.
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References
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Barnett, S.F, Register- Mihalik, J, and Padua, D.A. 2014. High Levels Of Coach Intent To
Integrate A ACL Injury Prevention Programme Into Training Does Not Translate To Effective
Implementation. Sports Medicine Australia, Original Research.
Brink,M.S,Visscher,C,Arends,S,andZwerver,J.2010. MonitoringStressAndRecovery:New
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