Latest research in the football codes

Abstract

The Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, by its multidisciplinary nature, publishes a range of research covering the various codes of football. This research reaches across the areas of sports injury, the various sub-disciplines of sports science and sports medicine, and bridges codes such as soccer, rugby union, rugby league, futsal, Australian football, Gaelic football, and American football. This wide coverage likely coincides with the popularity worldwide of these forms of football both at the participation end and at the elite or high performance level. With significant participation in these sports, having a strong base of research becomes paramount to their further development and safe execution. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the more recently published work on the football codes as a way of demonstrating the importance of research in assisting the areas of injury prevention, rehabilitation, and performance enhancement. Such research not only benefits the individuals playing these sports, but also the sports medicine, sports science, and coaching personnel supporting these athletes. Coutts et al.1Coutts A.J. Quinn J. Hocking J. et al.Match running performance in elite Australian rules football.J Sci Med Sport. 2010; 13: 534-538Google Scholar focused on Australian football players and examined running demands in matches and the influence of periods of intense running on subsequent running in matches. Such research has clear implications for match performance and for strength and conditioning aspects of training. In the area of soccer, Henderson et al.2Henderson H. Barnes C.A. Portas M.D. Factors associated with increased propensity for hamstring injury in English Premier League soccer players.J Sci Med Sport. 2010; 13: 397-402Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (143) Google Scholar modelled the influence of a range of physical and performance parameters on subsequent hamstring injury in a squad of elite English Premier League soccer players. Their findings that age, lean mass, and active hip flexion range of motion were associated with hamstring injury have important implications for injury prevention and rehabilitation practices. In the area of rugby union, Fuller et al.3Fuller C.W. Caswell S.E. Zimbwa T. Do mismatches between teams affect the risk of injury in the Rugby World Cup.J Sci Med Sport. 2010; 13: 36-38Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar examined the effect of mismatches between teams (e.g., body mass differences and performance level differences) on injury risk at the World Cup level. Findings from studies such as these are clearly important to coaching and strategy practices in elite rugby. Takahashi et al.4Takahashi M. Fukuoka S. Nagano A. Evaluation of team-doctor actions during football games in Japanese professional league.J Sci Med Sport. 2009; 12: 611-613Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar evaluated the roles and actions of team doctors during professional football matches, with such information being important for “on-time” injury evaluation procedures. A final example is that by Twomey et al.5Twomey D. Finch C. Roediger E. et al.Preventing lower limb injuries: is the latest evidence being translated into the football field.J Sci Med Sport. 2009; 12: 452-456Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (63) Google Scholar who surveyed a range of Australian football coaches on the adoption of evidence for injury prevention. They concluded that a need still exists to translate the latest scientific evidence about effective injury prevention into coaching practices. Our focus on football continues in this current issue where we include five papers that address various sports science and sports medicine issues in football codes. Schmikli et al. investigated injury characteristics and incidence rates in a large nationally representative sample of junior and senior players drawn from the Injuries and Physical Activity Netherlands (IPAN) database. Gabbett and colleagues examined the relationship between training load and injury in a sample of professional Rugby league players through a 4-year prospective study. Gabbett also leads a further paper on physical collisions and injury in professional Rugby league match-play. Austin et al. in their paper describe the match-play demands of players in elite (Super 14) rugby union across two seasons. Finally, Till et al. report on their use of anthropometric and performance characteristics to predict selection in junior UK rugby league players. Whilst our focus on football continues, you will find a large range of papers addressing the myriad of other important sports medicine and sports science areas in our latest issue.