Accessed 23 May Stiles V, Dixon S. The science and engineering of sport surfaces. London: Routledge; How valid is a self reported 12 month sports injury history? Download references. We would also like to thank the players who participated in the study and Jouni Ronkainen for assistance with the data collection and analysis. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. JR, POO and AH conceived and designed the data collection method, collected the data, analysed the data and reviewed drafts of the paper.

All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Andy Harland and Jonathan Roberts have received research grants from FIFA and adidas for other research projects predating this manuscript. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Reprints and Permissions.

Mears, A. Sports Med - Open 4, 40 Download citation. Received : 27 February Accepted : 07 August Published : 20 August Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:. Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative. Skip to main content. Search all SpringerOpen articles Search. Download PDF. Abstract Background Injuries in association football soccer are debilitating for players and can also be detrimental to the success of a team or club.

Methods Quantitative data were collected from players across the globe to address the aim of this study. Results Ninety-one percent of players believed the type or condition of a surface could increase injury risk. Conclusions The results identified three areas where future research should be focussed to help develop surfaces that alleviate user concerns and meet user i. Background Injuries in association football soccer are debilitating for the player affected but also have a wider impact on team performances and morale and place substantial financial burdens on clubs [ 1 ].

Methods All study activities involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional ethics committee and with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. Data Collection Electronic and hard copies of the questionnaire were produced. Full size image. Table 1 Interpretations of the first two principal components and cumulative variance explained [24] Full size table.

Contribution of Surface Properties to Injury Hard, bumpy and inconsistent were surface properties perceived to have contributed to an injury on both NT and AT, rendering surface properties equally as important to consider as surface type when reporting injuries.

Differences Between Countries with Varying Surface Experience The percentage of players experiencing an injury believed to be due to the type or properties of a surface were greater for countries with more experience playing on Gravel i. Conclusions A worldwide cohort of elite association football players largely believed the type or condition of a playing surface could increase injury risk. References 1. Article Google Scholar 4. Article PubMed Google Scholar Article Google Scholar Article Google Scholar Download references.

Availability of Data and Materials Please contact the author for data requests. Mears View author publications. However, although it has been already shown that injury prevention strategies can be successfully promoted among team coaches and physiotherapists [ 17 , 18 ] it is still unknown whether and which of these effective measures are generally accepted and regularly used in professional and youth football.

The compliance of the athlete with the preventive measure seems to be a key factor for the successful implementation of effective strategies in sports practice [ 19 , 20 ]. Soligard et al. Therefore, it seems problematic that various studies or reviews reported a poor compliance with injury prevention measures such as neuromuscular training or regular bracing [ 16 , 21 — 23 ]. As a consequence, a primary focus of future injury prevention strategies should be on improving compliance among the athletes to truly effective measures during competition and football practice.

However, to our knowledge, no study previously collected data on individual beliefs and adopted strategies of injury prevention among football athletes.

It is therefore unknown whether and to what extent evidence-based measures have been already adopted by professional or recreational players. The objective of this study was to collect first data on perceptions on injury mechanisms, risk factors and preventive measures as well as effectively used strategies during practice and competition among professional and youth football players.

The study, a cross-sectional survey of among professional and youth football players in one German high-level football club, conducted in June was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of the University of Jena protocol no.

Active players of the professional team Bundesliga, second division during the time of the survey and youth teams U, U, U, U and U of one German football club were asked to participate.

Although there were also U, U and U teams in the participating football club, inclusion was restricted to the U due to the experience with injuries and preventive measures.

No exclusion criteria were defined regarding injury status, playing positions, or performance level. The anonymous survey was conducted before the start of preseason practice by a researcher not involved in the training routines or medical practice. The questionnaire was distributed and collected by the researcher on the same day.

A statement at the title page of the questionnaire included information regarding the study purpose and the anonymity of responses. The response to the survey was assumed to indicate the informed consent of the athletes.

Due to the fact that minors were involved, parental consent for participation was obtained by the coaches. The questionnaire was developed according to the current evidence of injury prevention [ 11 , 12 , 15 , 16 , 23 ] as well as established theoretical models [ 24 — 27 ].

It included three categories with 10 questions to be answered. In agreement with the stages of the injury sequence model of van Mechelen [ 24 ] we collected data on the injury history, perceived risk factors, and believes and practices regarding preventive measures. Question generation was based on a literature review and valuable discussions with experts.

Questions were presented in a language appropriate for athletes in the adolescence and young adult age. Each category of interest had single questions with a dichotomous response yes or no. The questionnaire was pilot-tested in three local non-professional football teams. Results from these teams indicated that the majority of participants understood the questions and response options.

The second part contained questions on history of injuries. Participants were asked to report each injury of the foot, ankle, knee, hip, thigh and groin that ever occurred during football practice or game with regard to the year, kind, leg side, estimated time loss and circumstances with or without contact, game or practice. The time loss was divided into the following categories: 1—6 days minor , 7—27 days moderate and more than 28 days severe.

Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate demographic data. SPSS version Overall, 24 professional and youth players participated in this survey. All returned questionnaires were analyzed. The age of respondents ranged between 13 and 35 years. A detailed description of the participants is given in Table 1. More than two third of professional players experienced an injury at the ankle joint.

Out of all respondents, Only few players considered physical condition deficits 2. All three factors were rated higher by previously injured players than by those without injuries. The majority of respondents consider injury prevention important or very important Table 4. Answers differed not between teams or players of different injury status. Rates were not different between teams and injured vs. About half of all respondents External measures used regularly by players are taping Both measures are more frequently used by players with previous injuries.

Nevertheless, some players that never experienced lower extremity injuries reported regularly to use taping This survey presents data on injury rates and current perceptions regarding injury risk factors as well as information regarding prevention strategies used in football.

It describes subsequent stages starting with the relevance of the problem in terms of incidence followed by risk factor identification and the use as well as assessment of preventive measures. Answers on specific risk factors and preventive strategies were built upon current evidence [ 11 , 12 , 15 , 16 , 23 ], theoretical models [ 26 — 29 ] and expert beliefs.

However, while pilot tested, discussed with experts and adjusted accordingly, the developed questionnaire was used for the first time in this study. Therefore, we cannot fully exclude potential confounding factors and results should be considered hypothesis-generating. The self-reported history of lower extremity injuries among respondents showed that at least two-thirds of football players of age 13 and above previously experienced an acute injury during practice or play.

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To create a multidimensional predictor score for football injuries, 17 risk factors were selected.