The Influence of Somatotype, Strength and Flexibility on Injury Occurrence among Female Competitive Olympic Style Gymnasts. A Pilot Study.

Abstract

Abstract. Objectives-A pilot project to investigate somatotype, strength and flexibility as risk factors for injury amongst female competitive gymnasts. Methods-Fifteen subjects (ranging in age from 8 to 18 years) volunteered to participate in the present study. An ex-post facto study design using independent samples was employed. Injury history was established through use of a questionnaire. From this information, each individual's injury status was categorised as either "high" or "low" using a previously designed and validated scoring system. Somatotype ratings were determined, followed by a battery of tests to assess muscular endurance and strength, and flexibility. Results-A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed that there was no significant difference between groups of low and high injury rates and the dependent variables selected. However, univariate analysis suggested trends indicating that the low injury subjects were more flexible (back extension & ankle dorsiflexion) than those who had reported more injuries (both P=0.013). Independent t-tests revealed that between groups of low and high injury rates there were significant differences in age (P=0.002), stature (P=0.006), body mass (P=0.001), and years of gymnastics training (P=0.016). Conclusions-In the present study, strength and somatotype proved not to be good indicators of an individual's susceptibility to injury. However, there were trends suggesting that low levels of flexibility may predispose a gymnast to injury. The incidence of injury may also be related to the number of years an individual has participated in competitive gymnastics. In addition, older, taller and heavier gymnasts may be at greater risk of incurring injuries. It is concluded that training methods should be adapted to suit the needs of each individual, depending on their age, stature and body mass. It is also recommended that coaches become aware of which individuals may be more predisposed to injury by carrying out a physical assessment prior to participation.

Screening Tools as a Predictor of Injury in Gymnastics: Systematic Literature Review

“…Grip strength of gymnasts was measured by [4,25]; however, different data analysis procedures were used, only one study normalised the scores by body weight [4], and hence again, pooling was not possible. Finally, vertical jump [1,4,29] and quadriceps angle (Q angle) data [2,24] were considered for meta-analysis; however, inconsistency in protocols and data presentation prevented pooling of the data.…”

Injury Prevention and Future Research

“…In football, however, where age categories are also restricted by weight categorization, heavier players are at higher risk of injury than lighter boys [28,55,61,62]. In gymnastics, athletes who are taller or heavier are at an increased risk of injury compared with those shorter or lighter [56,58,63]. In soccer, Backous et al [44] demonstrate that taller players are at an increased risk of injury compared with shorter players.…”

“…The exceptions to this are found in sport-specific studies. In gymnastics and figure skating there is some evidence of an association between poor flexibility and injury [58,71]. Both anterior tibiofemoral laxity and pronation are predictive of anterior cruciate ligament knee injury in adolescents [72].…”

“…Decreased flexibility is not a risk factor generally for injury in adolescent [1,69,70] or adult sport [73]. However, it may be a risk factor for injury in gymnastics, figure skating, and wrestling, all sports that demand a high degree of flexibility for execution of many maneuvers [58,71].…”

Analysis of the influence of plyometric training in improving the performance of athletes in rhythmic gymnastics

“…The injury rate among gymnasts is exceeded only by soccer, wrestling and softball (Chimera, Swanik, Swanik & Straub, 2004). Particularly, female athletes who perform jumping movements present a higher risk of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injuries than their male counterparts (Chimera et al, 2004;Wright & De Cree, 1998).…”