Abstract
Agility is an important factor in football (soccer), but studies have rarely examined the influences of different agility components on the likelihood of being injured in football. This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the possible influences of sporting factors, i.e., flexibility, reactive agility (RAG), and change of direction speed (CODS), on injury occurrence over one competitive half-season, in professional football players. Participants were 129 football professional players (all males, 24.4 ± 4.7 years), who underwent anthropometrics, flexibility, and RAG and CODS (both evaluated on non-dominant and dominant side) at the beginning of second half-season 2019/20 (predictors). Over the following half-season, occurrence of injury was registered (outcome). To identify the differences between groups based on injury occurrence, t-test was used. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were calculated to identify the associations between predictors and outcome. Results showed incidence of 1.3 injuries per 1000 h of training/game per player, with higher likelihood for injury occurrence during game than during training (Odds Ratio (OR) = 3.1, 95%CI: 1.63–5.88) Univariate logistic regression showed significant associations between players’ age (OR = 1.65, 95%CI: 1.25–2.22), playing time (OR = 2.01, 95%CI: 1.560–2.58), and RAG (OR = 1.21, 95%CI: 1.09–1.35, and OR = 1.18, 95%CI: 1.04–1.33 for RAG on dominant- and non-dominant side, respectively), and injury occurrence. The multivariate logistic regression model identified higher risk for injury in those players with longer playing times (OR = 1.81, 95%CI: 1.55–2.11), and poorer results for RAG for the non-dominant side (OR = 1.15, 95%CI: 1.02–1.28). To target those players who are more at risk of injury, special attention should be paid to players who are more involved in games, and those who with poorer RAG. Development of RAG on the non-dominant side should be beneficial for reducing the risk of injury in this sport.
Highlights
The aim of this study waswas to investigate the influences of RAGofand ity componentson oninjury injury occurrence occurrence in football players, and and we hypothecomponents inprofessional professional football players, we hypothesized sized of injury in players who performed betteron onthe thefootball-specific football-specific tests lowerlower risksrisks of injury in players who performed better tests of change of direction speed (CODS)
This study highlighted the importance of reactive agility (RAG) as a predictor of injury occurrence
It is clear that scenarios requiring reactive agility present risky conditions for dysfunctional locomotion, and may result in injury
Summary
From the aspect of kinesiological analysis, football (soccer) is a contact sport of intermittent and poly-structural nature, with high technical-tactical and physical demands [1,2,3]. Each player’s performance is directly influenced by the environment (i.e., teammates, opponents, and ball). To these stimuli, the player must constantly adapt and react in order to assure situational efficiency. The frequency of games is constantly increasing [5]. As a result of such increases in the psychophysiological demands, and despite the evident progress of sports medicine, better sports equipment and training grounds and improved recovery methods and prevention programs, injuries are one of the most evident problems in football [6]. Non-contact muscular injuries represent a special problem, which, being mostly preventable through primary and secondary prevention strategies, account for one third of all time-loss injuries in men’s professional football [7,8,9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
