08 Jul FSI Football Science Update
1. Regular football training down-regulates miR-1303 muscle expression in veterans
Mancini A et al
Department of Movement Sciences and Wellness, University Parthenope, Naples, Italy
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1007/s00421-021-04733-1
This study comparing RNA samples of 12 veteran football players (VPG) compared to 12 active untrained elderly subjects (CG) found that VPG showed a down-regulated expression of miRNA-1303 (miR-1303) and BAG-2, a chaperon protein involved in the muscle cells autophagy pathway, suggesting a beneficial effect of football practice on longevity
2. Relationships between Sleep, Athletic and Match Performance, Training Load, and Injuries: A Systematic Review of Soccer Players
Clemente FM, Afonso J, Costa J, Oliveira R, Pino-Ortega J, Rico-González M
Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Portugal
Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Jun 26;9(7):808. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9070808
This systematic review in EBSCOhost, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and FECYT databases revealed inconsistent results, with some studies suggesting that sleep restrictions in soccer negatively affected athletic and match performance while also increasing the number and severity of musculoskeletal injuries, warranting further study of this complex relationship.
3. Poor Motor Coordination Elicits Altered Lower Limb Biomechanics in Young Football (Soccer) Players: Implications for Injury Prevention through Wearable Sensors
Di Paolo S, Zaffagnini S, Pizza N, Grassi A, Bragonzoni L
Department for Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna, Italy
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Jun 25;21(13):4371. doi: 10.3390/s21134371
In this study 18 juvenile football players (10y ± 2m) were divided into poorly coordinated (PC) and well-coordinated (WC) according to their results in the Harre circuit test. PC players showed a stiffer hip biomechanics strategy, higher internal-external hip rotation and knee valgus, and significant biomechanical limb asymmetries for the knee joint in a training drill with a vertical jump, agility ladders, and change of direction monitored with wearable inertial sensors (MTw Awinda, Xsens). This monitoring of motor coordination and on-field biomechanics might enhance the targeted training for ACL injury prevention.
4. Drop Jump? Single-Leg Squat? Not if You Aim to Predict Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury From Real-Time Clinical Assessment: A Prospective Cohort Study Involving 880 Elite Female Athletes
Petushek E, Nilstad A, Bahr R, Krosshaug T
J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2021 Jul;51(7):372-378. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2021.10170
In this study, 880 elite female handball and football (soccer) athletes were tested from 2007 to 2014 by trained physical therapists, visually rating each leg during a single-leg squat (SLS) and a vertical drop jump (VDJ). 65 noncontact ACL injuries occurred. The 14% percent of these injured athletes had poor previous rated SLS performance, compared to 17% of the noninjured athletes, and 21% of the injured athletes had a previous poor VDJ rating, compared to 27% of the noninjured athletes. Furthermore, a low area under the ROC curve values demonstrated no to poor prognostic accuracy of the visual rating of these tests to predict non-contact ACL in elite female athletes