Comprehensive profile of hip, knee and ankle ranges of motion in professional football players

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Limited ranges of motion (ROM) has been considered as a primary risk factor for some football injuries, but only a few studies have analysed differences in lower extremity joints. The main purposes were (a) to describe the lower extremity ROM profile in professional football players; and (b) to examine differences between goalkeepers and outfield players. METHODS: 82 professional male football players from 4 teams were measured in the 2013 pre-season. Measures of passive hip (flexion with knee flexed [PHFKF] and extended [PHFKE], extension [PHE], abduction [PHA], external [PHER] and internal [PHIR] rotation), knee (flexion [PKF]) and ankle (dorsiflexion with knee flexed [ADFKF] and extended [ADFKE]) ROMs were taken. Magnitude-based inferences exploring differences between player position and limb were made.RESULTS: 46% of all participants showed restricted PHFKE and/or around 30% showed restricted ADFKF ROM values. Contrarily, most players reported normal PHFKF, PHE, PHIR and PHER as well as PKF ROM scores with percentage values close to 100%. Bilateral meaningful differences for PHA, PHIR and PHER were found in approximately 30% of outfield players and goalkeepers. Statistical analysis found trivial differences between players for PHFKE, PHE, PHIR, PHER, ADFKE and ADFKF. However, moderate differences between players were found for PHFKF, PHA and PKF, with goalkeepers demonstrating higher values than outfield players. CONCLUSIONS:The findings of this study reinforce the necessity of prescribing exercises aimed at improving PHFKE and ADFKF ROM within everyday football training routines. In addition, as some bilateral deficits were observed, unilateral training should be considered where appropriate.

Does Function Determine the Structure? Changes in Flexor Hallucis Longus Muscle and the Associated Performance Related to Dance Modality: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Regarding whether the repetitive loading forces generated during dance training could induce bilateral differences in the FHL muscle profile and performance in dancers, the results of this study are in line with previous research conducted among football players [30], tennis players [31], and baseball pitchers [31], which reported no significant differences (P > 0.05) between limbs for the ankle dorsiflexion ROM and hip rotation, respectively. Both limbs were found to be bilaterally symmetrical in those studies.…”

Flexibility in Spanish Elite Inline Hockey Players: Profile, Sex, Tightness and Asymmetry

“…In this sense, the increase of ROM values, especially in the iliopsoas, adductors, hamstring, quadriceps and surae triceps, might improve skating efficiency and speed, and other puck handle skills [31][32][33], favoring the players' performance and injury risk reduction [20,30]. Although some studies have analyzed the range of motion (ROM) in several team sports, most of them have been focused on football [11,34], futsal [10,16,26] or handball [35] players. The scientific evidence according to hockey players' ROM values is scarce, and strictly limited to the ice hockey modality [25,36,37].…”

El perfil óptimo de flexibilidad en jóvenes jugadores de fútbol durante su periodo sensible del desarrollo físico. Batería ROM-SPORT

“…El rango de movimiento "Range of Motion" (ROM) proporciona en términos cuantitativos (en grados) la medición indirecta de la flexibilidad. Los valores medios de ROM de los principales movimientos de la cadera (flexión [rodilla neutra y flexionada], extensión, aducción, abducción [rodilla neutra y flexionada], rotación interna y rotación externa), rodilla (flexión) y tobillo (dorsiflexión de tobillo [rodilla neutra y flexionada]) ha sido definido como el perfil de flexibilidad del miembro inferior Cejudo, Robles-Palazón, Ayala, et al, 2019;López-Valenciano et al, 2019).…”