Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine and compare the acute effects of basketball-specific fatigue on muscular stiffness and reactive strength in male adolescent basketball players of two age categories. Reactive strength, expressed by means of the reactive strength index (RSI), and leg stiffness (LS) as mechanisms associated with the risk of ACL injury were measured in eleven players of the U16 category (age 16.1 ± 0.4 years; body height 185 ± 6.5 cm; body mass 74.3 ± 9.9 kg) and ten players of the U18 category (age 17.7 ± 0.4 years; body height 187 ± 5.7 cm; body mass 79.7 ± 7.4 kg) pre and post simulated basketball match play (SBFP28). RSI was determined by a drop jump test, LS by a 20 sub-maximal two-legged hopping test. No significant effects of SBFP28 on the monitored parameters were observed with the exception of RSI in U16 (p = 0.013, r = 0.53). Similarly, there were no significant differences in the fatigue-related responses to SBFP28 for RSI and LS between the age groups. These results indicated that irrespective of age, the stabilization function of the knee muscles was not impaired and consequently the risk of ACL injury was not increased.
Highlights
Basketball is a physically demanding sport, which imposes a highly variable load on the players [1]
It was recognized in youth athletes that 16 to 18-year olds represent a group at greatest risk where most injuries are likely to occur [10], which was confirmed in sports such as basketball and soccer [11]
The results of this study did not show fatigue-related changes in absolute leg stiffness (ABSLS) or relative leg stiffness (RELLS) in the U16 and U18 categories. These results indicate that the fatigue protocol did not compromise neuromuscular pre-activation and neuromuscular feed-forward control as an indicator of dynamic stability of the knee
Summary
Basketball is a physically demanding sport, which imposes a highly variable load on the players [1]. Basketball performance combines maximum intensity activities and medium or low intensity multidirectional movements such as acceleration and deceleration, pivoting, dribbling, shuffling, jumping and landing, often performed unilaterally [2,3]. For these reasons, youth basketball belongs among risky sports with frequent lower limb injuries including injuries of the knee joint and hamstrings [4]. Non-contact ACL injuries appear to predominantly occur in a rapid change of direction initiated on one leg, landing from a jump on one leg, and pivoting [6,7,8]. Other recent studies of youth reported the highest incidence of injury in the group of 13 to 15-year olds, followed by 16 to year olds [12], and the highest injury incidence around the time of Peak Height Velocity [13]
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