the effect of detraining and intervention strategies on injury incidence during preseason in...

The Effect of Detraining and Intervention Strategies on Injury Incidence during

Preseason in Adolescent Soccer Players

Jan Van Winckel1,3

Berckmans, B.1, Seerden, G.1

McMillan, K.2, El-Shafie, A.A.1,5, Bradley, P.S.4, Jacobs, P.1, Helsen, W.3

1 Al-Ahli Saudi Football Club, Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.2 Aspire Academy for Sport Excellence, Doha, Qatar.

3 Department of Biomedical Kinesiology, University of Leuven, Belgium. 4 Department of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Sunderland, UK.

5 Faculty of Physical Education, University of Sadat City, Egypt.

Introduction

Injury incidence during preseason is higher than in any other period

Coaches focus on rebuilding fitness by adjusting load in preseason

The higher incidence of injuries during preseason has often been attributed to a higher

workload

Introduction

Our hypothesis is that a detrained status might affect the incidence of injury because of an

imbalance between the imposed load and the reduced load tolerance of the player

The primary aim of this study was to examine the effect of intervention strategies on injury

incidence during the following season

Method

Elite adolescent players (n = 94) from a Saudi professional football club

Players from U16 – U23 team

18 months observation (season 1: 2012-2013 and season 2: 2013-2014)

Study procedure

Season 1: 2012-2013Data analysis

Intervention strategies prior to and during the 2013 preseason

Season 2: 2013-2014Data analysis

Time

Data analysis

Injury incidence = the number of injuries per 1,000 player-hours of match or training

exposure

Injury = being unable to take full part of future soccer training or match play (>2 days)

Intervention

Intervention strategies:1. Aerobic maintenance program during offseason2. Individualized injury prevention exercises during offseason3. Five-week aerobic rebuilding phase during preseason

Offseason aerobic maintenance program:

ResultsSeason 1 Season 2

Injury Incidence 1.26 0.74* (d=0.63)

Total muscle injuries 0.88 0.46** (d=0.63)

*p<0.01 and **p<0.05

There were no significant differences in the weekly training volume between season 1 and season 2.

Discussion

The higher incidence of injury during preseason might not only be contributed to the higher

workload but also to the detrained state of the players at the start of preseason

The effects of detraining can be counteracted with intervention strategies

Thank you-

Any questions?

Email: janvanwinckel@gmail.com

balder.berckmans@gmail.com