Document Type

Article

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

Sport and fitness sciences, Other clinical medicine subjects

Publication Details

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports

Abstract

Hamstring strains are the most common time-loss injury in elite Gaelic football affecting over 20% of players per season. Thus, there is a need to identify factors contributing to the onset of hamstring injuries in order to inform injury risk management strategies. The current study investigated whether eccentric knee flexor strength and between-limb imbalances were associated with increased risk of sustaining a timeloss hamstring injury in elite Gaelic football players. A total of 185 elite male players (26.9 ± 2.7 years, 86.4 ± 6.2 kg, 183.4 ± 5.6) were prospectively followed for 12 weeks from the day of testing. Injury data were provided by the team medical staff. Twenty-eight players (16%) sustained a time-loss hamstring injury following testing. Players that did not sustain a hamstring injury had greater average betweenlimb asymmetries (uninjured = 9.1%, 95% CI 7.8-10.1; injured = 5.1%, 95% CI 3.7-6.7; P = .001). Eccentric knee flexor strength profiles were not associated with increased or decreased risk of sustaining a hamstring injury and did not alter the post-test probability of sustaining a hamstring injury across the investigation period. These findings do not support the use of eccentric knee flexor strength metrics in managing hamstring injury risk in elite male Gaelic football players.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13588

Funder

Gaelic Athletic Association

Download
Contact the Author


Share

COinS