TY - JOUR
T1 - Eccentric knee flexor strength profiles of 341 elite male academy and senior Gaelic football players
T2 - Do body mass and previous hamstring injury impact performance?
AU - Roe, Mark
AU - Malone, Shane
AU - Delahunt, Eamonn
AU - Collins, Kieran
AU - Gissane, Conor
AU - Persson, Ulrik Mc Carthy
AU - Murphy, John C.
AU - Blake, Catherine
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2018/5
Y1 - 2018/5
N2 - Objective: Report eccentric knee flexor strength values of elite Gaelic football players from underage to adult level whilst examining the influence of body mass and previous hamstring injury. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Team's training facility. Participants: Elite Gaelic football players (n = 341) from under 14 years to senior age-grades were recruited from twelve teams. Main outcome measures: Absolute (N) and relative (N·kg−1) eccentric hamstring strength as well as corresponding between-limb imbalances (%) were calculated for all players. Results: Mean maximum force was 329.4N (95% CI 319.5–340.2) per limb. No statistically significant differences were observed in relative force values (4.4 N ·kg−1, 95% CI 4.2–4.5) between age-groups. Body mass had moderate-to-large and weak associations with maximum force in youth (r = 0.597) and adult (r =0.159) players, respectively. Overall 40% (95 CI 31.4–48.7) presented with a maximum strength between-limb imbalance >10%. Players with a hamstring injury had greater relative maximum force (9.3%, 95% CI 7.0–11.8; p > 0.05) and a 28% (95% CI 10.0–38.0) higher prevalence of between-limb imbalances ≥15% compared to their uninjured counterparts. Conclusions: Overlapping strength profiles across age-groups, combined with greater strength in previously injured players, suggests difficulties for establishing cut-off thresholds associated with hamstring injury risk.
AB - Objective: Report eccentric knee flexor strength values of elite Gaelic football players from underage to adult level whilst examining the influence of body mass and previous hamstring injury. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Team's training facility. Participants: Elite Gaelic football players (n = 341) from under 14 years to senior age-grades were recruited from twelve teams. Main outcome measures: Absolute (N) and relative (N·kg−1) eccentric hamstring strength as well as corresponding between-limb imbalances (%) were calculated for all players. Results: Mean maximum force was 329.4N (95% CI 319.5–340.2) per limb. No statistically significant differences were observed in relative force values (4.4 N ·kg−1, 95% CI 4.2–4.5) between age-groups. Body mass had moderate-to-large and weak associations with maximum force in youth (r = 0.597) and adult (r =0.159) players, respectively. Overall 40% (95 CI 31.4–48.7) presented with a maximum strength between-limb imbalance >10%. Players with a hamstring injury had greater relative maximum force (9.3%, 95% CI 7.0–11.8; p > 0.05) and a 28% (95% CI 10.0–38.0) higher prevalence of between-limb imbalances ≥15% compared to their uninjured counterparts. Conclusions: Overlapping strength profiles across age-groups, combined with greater strength in previously injured players, suggests difficulties for establishing cut-off thresholds associated with hamstring injury risk.
KW - Eccentric hamstring strength
KW - Gaelic football
KW - Normative values
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042557846&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ptsp.2018.01.006
DO - 10.1016/j.ptsp.2018.01.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 29503012
AN - SCOPUS:85042557846
SN - 1466-853X
VL - 31
SP - 68
EP - 74
JO - Physical Therapy in Sport
JF - Physical Therapy in Sport
ER -