06 Feb FSI Football Science Update

 

Focus of Attention During ACL Injury Prevention Exercises Affects Improvements in Jump-Landing Kinematics in Soccer Players: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Dalvandpour N, Zareei M, Abbasi H, Abdoli B, Mohammadian MA, Rommers N, Rössler R.

J Strength Cond Res. 2023 Feb 1;37(2):337-342. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000004201. Epub 2021 Dec 23

In this study, 42 elite-level, U21 soccer players performed a jump-landing task, either with internal focus of attention, receiving instructions focusing on the execution of the exercise, or with external focus of attention, receiving instructions focusing on the outcome of the exercise. This external focus group performed better in hip flexion at all moments and for the knee flexion angle at initial contact and maximum knee flexion.

 

Epidemiology of hamstring injuries in 538 cases from an FC Barcelona multi sports club.

Gudelis M, Pruna R, Trujillano J, Lundblad M, Khodaee M.

2023 Jan 27;1-8. doi: 10.1080/00913847.2023.2170684. Online ahead of print

This epidemiological study on hamstring muscle injuries in the professional and amateur sport sections of a multi-sport club Football Club Barcelona (FCB) from September 2007 to September 2017 found a total of 538 hamstring injuries, of which 240 were structurally verified by imaging. The overall incidence for the 17 sports studied was 1.29 structurally verified hamstring injuries per 100 athletes per year. The muscle most commonly involved in hamstring injuries was the biceps femoris, and the connective tissue most frequently involved was the myofascial. There was no evidence of a statistically significant association between age and RTP after injury, and no statistically significant difference between sex and RTP. However, the time loss by professionals was shorter than for amateurs, and proximal hamstring injuries took longer RTP than distal ones.

 

The Qatar 2022 World Cup warm-up: Football goal-scoring evolution in the last 14 FIFA World Cups (1966-2018).

Mićović B, Leontijević B, Dopsaj M, Janković A, Milanović Z, Garcia Ramos A.

Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 4;13:954876. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.954876. eCollection 2022

This study analysed pattern of attacking actions leading up to goal scoring during the 14 FIFA World Cups from 1966 to 2018, including 1881 goals scored during a total of 732 matches. A trend from 1966 to 2018 was identified towards a higher relative frequency of goals scored from set play and collective actions from open play, but there were no changes in the frequency of goal scoring patterns and goal-scoring zones. The majority of goals were scored between the 76th and 90th minutes of a match (22.7%), from open play (70.5%), inside the penalty area (54.7%), one touch finishing (62.5%), and collective attacks in open play (55.8%).

 

Effects of a Football Simulated Exercise on Injury Risk Factors for Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury in Amateur Female Players.

Ferguson H, Piquet J, Jemni M, Delextrat A.

Biology (Basel). 2023 Jan 12;12(1):124. doi: 10.3390/biology12010124.

In this study, 33 amateur female football players performed isokinetic strength assessments of the quadriceps (concentrically, Qcon) and hamstrings (eccentrically, Hecc), before and immediately after a football-specific exercise. Results showed significantly lower peak Hecc (-15.1 to -15.5%), peak Hecc/Qcon (-8.8 to -12.9%) and RTD (-14.0 to -17.0%) for hamstring eccentric contractions after fatigue in the dominant and non-dominant legs. Furthermore, significant decreases in Hecc/Qcon were observed at 10° in the dominant leg (-15.5%), and at 10°, 20° and 30° in the non-dominant leg (-15.1 to -21.8%). These results suggest a reduced capacity of the hamstrings to stabilise the knee joint with fatigue. Unlike results previously shown on men, the non-dominant leg seemed more affected.

 

Do Repeated Sprints Affect the Biceps Femoris Long Head Architecture in Football Players with and without an Injury History?-A Retrospective Study.

Pimenta R, Antunes H, Lopes T, Veloso A.

Biology (Basel). 2023 Jan 8;12(1):96. doi: 10.3390/biology12010096.

This study compared 12 football players with and 20 without history of biceps femoris long head BFlh injury. Previously injured BFlh showed shorter fascicle length and greater pennation angle at rest and active state, both before and after a repeated sprints task, in comparison with the contralateral limb and with the healthy controls.