Owing to the need for expensive laboratory equipment and labor-intensive testing procedures, recent investigations have explored more clinician-friendly alternatives using standard video cameras to analyze drop vertical jump tasks ( 28,32). These studies have confirmed that this assessment provides both valid and reliable indicators of anterior cruciate ligament injury risk factors, including knee valgus and high knee abduction moments ( 12,28,29,32). A common diagnostic tool used within the available literature is a drop vertical jump ( 3,7,12,28,29,32). The assessment of kinematic variables during jump-landing tasks as part of a pre-participation screen is useful in the identification of injury risk ( 26-28,30). Ligamentous injuries most often occur during dynamic movements, such as decelerations from jump-landing maneuvers where high risk movement patterns are present ( 17). Deficits in neuromuscular control can impose excessive stress to the passive ligamentous structures, exceeding their strength limit and increase the potential for compromised structural integrity and injury ( 21). Furthermore, 35% of these injuries were classified as severe (>28 days absent), and other data are available to confirm the knee as the most frequent site of major injury in elite male youth soccer, including the anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprains ( 40).Īlthough limited evidence is available in male youths to confirm pertinent risk for injuries, altered neuromuscular control has been suggested as a mechanism in females and adults ( 1,33,36). Specifically, knee injury incidence rates in elite male youth soccer have been reported as 0.71 injuries per player each year, equating to an average of 17 training days and 2 matches missed per season ( 25). Incidence data in elite male youth soccer indicate that injuries occur mainly in the lower extremities (71–80%), are largely noncontact in nature, and are predominantly comprise ligament sprains at the ankle and knee ( 4,20,34). An inherent risk of injury is also present because of frequent repetitions of high-intensity movements that expose players to high joint and muscular forces ( 5). The sport of soccer imposes high physiological demand with aerobic endurance ( 24), speed, agility, strength, and power key determinants of elite performance ( 22,38). Knee valgus may be reliably used to screen elite youth male soccer players for this plyometric technique error and for test-retest comparison. The results of this study suggest that although tuck jump total score may be reliably assessed in elite male youth soccer players, caution should be applied in solely interpreting the composite score due to the high within-subject variation in a number of the individual criteria. When each criteria was analyzed individually, kappa coefficient determined that knee valgus was the only criterion to reach substantial agreement across the two test sessions for both groups. The typical error range reported for tuck jump total score (0.90–1.01 in pre-PHV and post-PHV players respectively) was considered acceptable. Technique was graded retrospectively against the 10-point criteria set out in the screening protocol using two-dimensional video cameras. A test-retest design was used to explore the within-subject intersession reliability.
15 TUCK JUMPS PROFESSIONAL
Twenty-five pre-peak height velocity (PHV) and 25 post-PHV elite male youth soccer players from the academy of a professional English soccer club completed the assessment.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the within-subject variation of the tuck jump screening assessment in elite male youth soccer players. An example of a field-based screening tool is the repeated tuck jump assessment. The assessment of kinematic variables during jump-landing tasks as part of a preparticipation screen is useful in the identification of injury risk. Ligamentous injuries most often occur during dynamic movements, such as decelerations from jump-landing maneuvers where high-risk movement patterns are present. J Strength Cond Res 30(6): 1510–1516, 2016-Altered neuromuscular control has been suggested as a mechanism for injury in soccer players. Reliability of the tuck jump injury risk screening assessment in elite male youth soccer players. Read, PJ, Oliver, JL, de Ste Croix, MBA, Myer, GD, and Lloyd, RS.