Sport Specialization and Coordination Differences in Multisport Adolescent Female Basketball, Soccer, and Volleyball Athletes

Abstract

Context Early sport specialization, or the participation in 1 sport year-round to the exclusion of all others, is a growing concern in youth athletics because of its possible association with musculoskeletal injury. The underlying injury risk may be the result of coordination differences that sport-specialized athletes have been speculated to exhibit relative to multisport athletes; however, little evidence exists to support or refute this notion. Objective To examine relative hip- and knee-joint angular-motion variability among adolescent sport-specialized and multisport female adolescent athletes to determine how sport specialization may affect coordination. Design Cohort study. Setting Research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants A total of 366 sport-specialized and 366 multisport adolescent female basketball, soccer, and volleyball players. Intervention(s) Drop–vertical-jump (DVJ) assessment. Main Outcome Measure(s) Average coupling-angle variability (CAV) for hip flexion and knee flexion, knee flexion and ankle flexion, hip flexion and knee abduction, knee flexion and knee abduction, knee flexion and knee internal rotation, and knee abduction and knee internal rotation. Results The sport-specialized group exhibited increased coupling variability in dominant-limb hip flexion and knee flexion (P = .015), knee flexion and knee abduction (P = .014), and knee flexion and knee internal rotation (P = .048) while landing during the DVJ, although they had small effect sizes (η2 = 0.010, 0.010, and 0.007, respectively). No differences were present between groups for any of the other CAV measures of the dominant limb, and no differences were found for any CAV measures of the nondominant limb (all P values > .05). Conclusions Sport specialization was associated with increased variability of critical hip- and knee-joint couplings responsible for effective landing during the DVJ. Altered coordination strategies that involve the hip and knee joints may underlie unstable landings, inefficient force-absorption strategies, or greater contact forces that can place the lower extremities at risk for injury (or a combination of these).

Can the Neuromuscular Performance of Young Athletes Be Influenced by Hormone Levels and Different Stages of Puberty?

“…The quality of neuromuscular performance, especially of the upper and lower limbs, has been identified as a determinant for physical health and success in several sports skills [1,2]. However, several biological and environmental factors can interfere with the neuromuscular quality of skills that require the use of motor coordination and muscle strength [3][4][5]. At the biological level, we can highlight the puberty process, which is the triggering of improvements in neurological, muscular, skeletal, and endocrine systems [6].…”

“…Sex hormones, such as estradiol, testosterone, and growth hormone, have extremely important functions in human biological development, which can mainly affect morphological structure, skeletal growth, and muscle strength levels [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. In this context, among neuromuscular parameters, muscle strength and body speed are two of the most essential for body functionality in relation to physical health, and for the development of specific skills related to sports performance [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Children’s Single-Leg Landing Movement Capability Analysis According to the Type of Sport Practiced

“…Physical activity, sport and/or exercise fosters the underlying mechanisms of children’s and adolescents’ motor competence (e.g., coordination patterns or stretch-shortening cycle) [ 2 , 4 , 5 ] and facilitates better regulation and reduction of impact forces during practice [ 6 ]. In this regard, the acquisition of new motor patterns as a result of physical activity and exercise not only depends on training but also on other factors such as age [ 6 ], level of performance [ 5 ], or the type of physical activity and sport practiced [ 7 ].…”

“…Although the studies on children and/or adolescents during landing are limited, the existing evidence shows that adolescents with experience in a single sport displayed larger lower limb joint angle variability than their counterparts with less experience [ 7 ]. Early specialization was associated with less stability and a higher risk of injury on landing than in adolescents who practiced diverse sports [ 7 ]. Children around 7 years old with a mature jumping pattern had less lower hip flexion and higher knee flexion than less mature children [ 23 ].…”

“…However, further evidence indicates that physically active individuals do not have better motor control during landing [ 22 ]. Even though physical activity and sports practice seem to be important for health, an excessive focus on individual motor patterns from specializing in a single sport may disrupt motor development and coordination processes, which are acquired or refined at an early age [ 7 ]. As a result, studying children’s lower limb kinematics and kinetics may provide an insight into motor pattern development according to the type of sport practiced in childhood [ 25 ].…”