Injury Prevention in Youth Football Players : Training Effects and Programme Implementation

Abstract

Background With 17-35% of all 14-year-olds in Sweden being active in football, injuries do occur, most frequently during match play. Based on knowledge of injury mechanisms and risk factors, different injury prevention exercise programmes (IPEPs) have been developed. In this thesis, the Swedish IPEP Knee Control was used as a model for injury preventive training. Aim The overall aim of this thesis was to improve our understanding of the effects of the Knee Control injury prevention exercise programme on sports performance and jump-landing technique, as well as exploring programme implementation and coach experiences of using the programme in youth football. Methods Studies I and IV were cluster-randomised trials focusing on the performance effects of Knee Control. Study I included four teams with 41 female youth football players (mean age 14). The intervention group used Knee Control twice weekly for 11 weeks, whereas the control group teams did their usual training. Knee Control includes six different exercises at four levels of difficulty and with partner exercises and is meant to be used during warm-up at every training session. Performance was tested using a battery of balance, agility, jump and sprint tests at baseline and follow-up at an indoor venue. Study IV had a similar setup but included two different interventions: Knee Control and a new, further-developed version of the programme, Knee Control+, which were studied during an eight-week intervention involving eight youth football teams, four male, four female (mean age 14), with 77 players. Similar, but not identical, performance tests were used in Study IV, along with drop vertical jumps and tuck jump assessment to assess jump-landing technique.