Workload and Injury in Professional Soccer Players: Role of Injury Tissue Type and Injury Severity

Enright, Kevin; Green, Matthew; Hay, Gordon; Malone, James J.

doi:10.1055/a-0997-6741

Cited by 29 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(92 reference statements)

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“…Jaspers et al used total distance covered, distance covered at high speed, number of accelerations, decelerations, and RPE-session as parameters for ACWR calculations. However, more recent work ( Enright et al, 2020 ) tends to support our findings: 53% of injuries reported in elite male soccer players occurred in the sweet spot. Another previous study also observed poor injury prediction from ACWR ratios in soccer ( Fanchini et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…It is necessary to consider injury severity since the duration athletes are absent from training or competition has a negative impact on individual and team performances ( Carling et al, 2015 ). Currently, few studies have examined the relationship between the ACWR and injury severity ( Bowen et al, 2017 , 2019 ; Enright et al, 2020 ). Those that have previously focused on this relationship classified severity into 4 categories (minimal, mild, moderate, and severe), thereby limiting the feasibility to examine the effect of workload on injury severity ( Enright et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, few studies have examined the relationship between the ACWR and injury severity ( Bowen et al, 2017 , 2019 ; Enright et al, 2020 ). Those that have previously focused on this relationship classified severity into 4 categories (minimal, mild, moderate, and severe), thereby limiting the feasibility to examine the effect of workload on injury severity ( Enright et al, 2020 ). For example, a paper using this approach to study 8 teams competing in UEFA professional soccer leagues across 2 seasons reported that none of the ACWRs or accumulated weekly loads were associated with the number of days a player missed through injury ( Enright et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those that have previously focused on this relationship classified severity into 4 categories (minimal, mild, moderate, and severe), thereby limiting the feasibility to examine the effect of workload on injury severity ( Enright et al, 2020 ). For example, a paper using this approach to study 8 teams competing in UEFA professional soccer leagues across 2 seasons reported that none of the ACWRs or accumulated weekly loads were associated with the number of days a player missed through injury ( Enright et al, 2020 ). Therefore, coupling both the frequency and severity of injuries is important as it enables researchers to discern not only the occurrence of injuries, but more importantly, those that prevent athletes from training or competition for an extended time period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, the literature on individual sports is more limited and to our knowledge no studies have investigated the relationship between workload and occurrence or severity in elite pentathletes. Finally, only a small number of investigations have examined the relationship between the ACWR and injury severity ( Bowen et al, 2017 , 2019 ; Enright et al, 2020 ). Additional work utilizing current workload methods to better understand injury severity in elite soccer female athletes and pentathletes is thereby warranted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does an Optimal Relationship Between Injury Risk and Workload Represented by the “Sweet Spot” Really Exist? An Example From Elite French Soccer Players and Pentathletes

et al. 2020

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Objective To examine the relationships between the occurrence and severity of injuries using three workload ratios (ACWR, EWMA, REDI) in elite female soccer players and international male and female pentathletes. Materials and Methods Female soccer players in the U16 to U18 national French teams ( n = 24) and international athletes ( n = 12, 4 women and 8 men) in the French modern pentathlon team were monitored throughout an entire season. The Acute Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR), the Exponentially Weighted Moving Averages (EWMA), and the Robust Exponential Decreasing Index (REDI) were calculated for internal load by the ROE method in soccer and external load in pentathlon. The occurrence and severity of injuries (determined according to time-loss) were quantified in the sweet spot zone [0.8; 1.3] and compared to the other zones of load variation: [0; 0.8], [1.3; 1.5], [1.5; +8], using the three ratios. Results Over the study period, a total of sixty-six injuries (2.75 per athlete) were reported in the soccer players and twelve in pentathletes (1 per athlete). The cumulative severity of all injuries was 788 days lost in soccer and 36 in pentathlon: respectively, 11.9 days lost per injury in soccer player and 3.0 per pentathlete. The mean values across the three methods in soccer showed a higher number of injuries detected in the [0; 0.8] workload ratio zone: 22.3 ± 6.4. They were 17.3 ± 3.5 in the sweet spot ([0.8–1.3] zone) and 17.6 ± 5.5 in the [1.5; +8] zone. In comparison to the [1.5; +8] zone, soccer players reported a higher number of days lost to injuries in the presumed sweet spot and in the [0–0.8] zone: 204.7 ± 28.7 and 275.0 ± 120.7 days, respectively. In pentathletes, ten of the twelve injuries (83.3%) occurred in the presumed sweet spot. REDI was the only method capable of tracking workloads over all-time series. Conclusion In the present cohort of elite soccer players and pentathletes, acute chronic workload calculations showed an association with injury occurrence and severity but did not provide evidence supporting existence of a sweet spot diminishing injury risk.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%