A Systematic Design of a Sports Injuries Prevention Program in Volleyball

Abstract

Background and Aims Volleyball is one of the most popular sports in Iran and every year more teenagers and adults are attracted to this sport. However, there is no systematic injury prevention program for Iranian volleyball players in accordance with the cultural, economic and social conditions of the country. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to design an intervention program to prevent volleyball sports injuries in a systematic manner using the intervention mapping protocol. Methods The IM method was used to design the program which has 6 steps: (1) Needs assessment, (2) Determining intervention outcomes and objectives, (3) designing the intervention by selecting theory and their practical applications, (4) producing the intervention program, (5) Developing an implementation plan, and (6) Developing an evaluation plan. To design the intervention, we used the steps 1 to 4. Results The designed program included a warm-up program with more than 45 movements (with different types and levels for players with different abilities) that should be performed at least two sessions a week before training or competition. The program consisted of three 3-week phases and provided to the trainers every week to observe the gradual improvement in intensity, repetition, complexity, and time of training. The duration of each weekly session was 15 minutes, including 4-5 minutes of cardiorespiratory exercises (to increase body temperature and cardiorespiratory preparation) and 9-10 minutes of exercises to prevent shoulder, knee and ankle injuries. Conclusion Despite being time consuming, the IM is a suitable method for designing an intervention to prevent injuries in volleyball. The designed injury prevention intervention is a 15-minute warm-up program that includes more than 45 exercises for amateur volleyball players. The feasibility of this program is under investigation and the study of its effect will be conducted in the upcoming months.