Abstract
Alpine ski racing is a sport with a high risk of injuries. In order to contribute to the longitudinal career development of young athletes, prevention measures should be elaborated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate prospectively the role of biological maturity status, and changes in anthropometric characteristics and physical fitness parameters over one season in elite youth ski racers younger than 15 years. Eighty-nine elite youth ski racers (39 females, 50 males), aged 10–14 years (mean age: 12.1 ± 1.3), were investigated. Anthropometric characteristics and physical fitness parameters were assessed prior and after the winter season; traumatic and overuse injuries were recorded over the 32 weeks. Binary logistic regression analyses (R² = 0.202–0.188) revealed that the biological maturity (Wald = 4.818; p = 0.028), and changes over the season in the jump agility test (Wald = 4.692; p = 0.03), in body height (Wald = 6.229; p = 0.013), and in leg length (Wald = 4.321; p = 0.038) represented significant injury risk factors. Athletes who could improve their jump agility performance more, had smaller changes in the anthropometric characteristics and who were closer to their peak height velocity were at a lower injury risk. In the context of injury prevention, regular neuromuscular training should be incorporated, and phases of rapid growth have to be considered.
Highlights
Alpine ski racing is a late specialization sport and the peak performance in elite alpine ski racing is mostly achieved between the ages of 26 to 28 years [1]
The mean changes (± standard deviation) in the fitness parameters over the season are presented in Table 2 for the total sample and separated by athletes with and without injuries
The binary logistic regression analyses showed that the change in the jump agility test over the season was a significant predictor for injuries (Wald = 4.682; p = 0.03; R2 = 0.202)
Summary
Alpine ski racing is a late specialization sport and the peak performance in elite alpine ski racing is mostly achieved between the ages of 26 to 28 years [1]. Skiing specific injuries are of particular interest especially in young athletes due to the fact that alpine ski racing is known to be a sport with a high risk of injuries [2]. At World Cup level, injury rates of more than 36 injuries/100 athletes were reported, of which more than 1/3 being severe and partly career ending [2,3]. The most affected body part is the knee at both World Cup level (35.6%) [4,5] and youth level with athletes younger than 15 years of age (36.5%) [6]. The rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the most frequent reported diagnosis of all injuries at the World
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