Abstract
Sprinting is a fundamental component of the professional soccer player’s ability to achieve the highest performance in the sport. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of hamstring injury history on the neuromuscular fatigue produced by an RSA test in elite female football players. Nineteen female elite soccer players of the Second Spanish Soccer Division participated in the study. The participants were divided into: (1) a Control group who have not suffered previous muscular injuries and (2) a Hamstring group with previous hamstring injury at least one season prior to the protocol. The players performed a protocol consisting of a Repeat Sprint Ability Test (RSA) (6 × 40 m; 30 s rest), and CMJ and Hamstring tests before and after the RSA. The different variables of the study were compared between groups with a two-way ANOVA for repeated measures. The main findings from the present study were that, in subjects with previous hamstring injury, the performance was impaired compared with the control group: (1) in the initial meters of the sprint during an RSA there was a higher percentage difference between SprintTT and ideal Split in 0–10 m compared to 0–20 m in the hamstring group (p = 0.006; ES = 0.51); and in situations of high fatigue there was a higher %Dif1vs6 compared to %Dif1vs5 (percentage difference between the first sprint and fifth sprint) in the hamstring group (p = 0.005; ES = 0.54) compared with the control group. It seems that in elite female soccer players with previous hamstring injury, RSA-induced fatigue produces a greater decrease in the performance in the first 10 m of the sprint compared to the control uninjured players.
Highlights
Soccer, as a sport, requires several physical demands, these include endurance, deceleration, acceleration, maximal sprinting, jumping, and repeated sprinting ability [1]
The incidence of neuromuscular fatigue was determined through a countermovement jump (CMJ) test, hamstring test, and the performance variables of the Repeat Sprint Ability Test (RSA) test itself in subjects according to the hamstring injury history
The main findings from the present study were that, in subjects with previous hamstring injury, the performance was impaired compared with the control group: (1) in the initial meters of the sprint during a RSA there was a higher percentage difference between SprintTT and Ideal Split in 0–10 m compared to 0–20 m in the hamstring group and (2) in situations of high fatigue there was a higher %Dif1vs6 compared to %Dif1vs5 in the hamstring group compared with the control group
Summary
As a sport, requires several physical demands, these include endurance, deceleration, acceleration, maximal sprinting, jumping, and repeated sprinting ability [1]. Sprinting is a fundamental component of the professional soccer player’s ability to win duels and defend or create scoring chances [2]. Sprinting generally constitutes between 1 and 10% of the total distance covered (around 1 to 3% of the effective playing time) [3–6]. Straight-line running is the most frequent action in goal scoring situations, both for the player who assists and the player who scores [7]. Soccer is a team sport played by many athletes worldwide with an estimated 4–26 million female participants [8–11] and approximately 238 million male participants [12]. The number of female football players has increased in recent years by approximately 50%
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