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06/11/2009 Acute injuries of the lower limbs, especially those affecting the ankle and knee joints, are a common problem in pivoting sports, and often they cause long-term harms for the injured athlete
Specifically, ankle injuries recur easily, and severe knee injuries often lead to early development of osteoarthritis. Also in floor ball the knee and ankle joints are the most commonly injured body parts and about half of these injuries occur via non-contact mechanisms.
A Finnish study investigated whether a systematic neuromuscular warm-up programme could reduce the risk of acute non-contact lower limb injuries in female floor ball players.
A total of 28 teams and 457 players participated in the study. Half of the teams took part in a special training programme for preventing injuries. The other 14 teams were asked to do their usual training during the study season.
The six-month intervention occurred in the floor ball season 2005-2006. At the start of the season, 1-2 persons of each intervention team were educated to use the warm-up programme with their team. The warm-up programme consisted of four different types of exercises: 1) running technique, 2) balance, 3) plyometrics, and 4) strengthening exercises.
The aim of the exercises was to improve control of the back, knees and ankles during sports specific maneuvers (running, cutting, stopping, standing), and in this way to reduce the risk of injuries. One warm-up session lasted 20-30 minutes and these exercises were intended to be performed 1-3 times weekly before floor ball training.
Only 5 of the 14 teams in the intervention group used the warm-up programme according to the plan, six teams had some irregularities in training, and three teams interrupted the training during the follow-up. As an average, 74% of the intended training sessions could be performed as planned.
Injury incidence per 1000 training and playing hours was 0.65 in the intervention and 2.08 in the control group. Thus, compared to the control group, the intervention group had 66% fewer non-contact lower limb injuries. In efficacy analysis, intervention teams with high compliance and adherence for warm-up training had 81% lower risk of injury than control teams.
It can be concluded that the used warm-up programme was very effective in preventing acute non-contact injuries of the lower limbs in female floor ball. Neuromuscular exercises can therefore be recommended to be included in the weekly training of this sport.
Reference
Pasanen K, Parkkari J, Pasanen M, Hiilloskorpi H, Mäkinen T, Järvinen M, Kannus P (2008): Neuromuscular training and the risk of leg injuries in female floorball players: cluster randomised controlled study. BMJ 337:96-102.
More information: kati.pasanen@uta.fi
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