An 8 week neuromuscular training programme reduces the risk of ACL injury and increases athletic performance variables in female court sport athletes

Court sport athletes repetitively perform movements which require physical attributes such as agility, acceleration, muscular power, muscular strength and balance. Unfortunately, some of the movements performed by court sport athletes such as changing direction quickly, decelerating and landing from a jump put athletes at an increased risk of injury their anterior cruciate ligament. Females in particular are at an increased risk of injuring this ligament in comparison to their male counterparts. The purpose of this study was to investigate if a neuromuscular training protocol increased athletic performance variables and reduced the risk of ACL injuries in female court sport athletes. Twenty female court sport athletes took part in this study (stature: 169 ± 7 cm, mass: 61.3 ± 8.3 kg, age: 22.3 ± 2.0 years, competitive playing experience: 5.4 ± 1.6 years). Participants were split evenly through random allocation, comprising of ten in the control group and ten in the intervention group. Both the control and intervention groups pre-tests involved a 20 m sprint, counter-movement jump (CMJ), Illinois agility test and the Qualitative Analysis of a Single Leg Squat (QASLS), which is an assessment used to profile a participant’s risk of an ACL injury. After the pre-tests the intervention group engaged in a modified version of the Fifa 11+ neuromuscular training programme twice a week over an eight week period. During this eight week period both groups were instructed to continue with their habitual training regimes as delivered to them by their sport coaches. After eight weeks both the control and intervention group participants were recalled to repeat the pre-test protocols. A 2 (Control vs. Intervention) x 2 (Pre vs. Post – within subjects) mixed ANOVA demonstrated significant improvements for the intervention group’s CMJ (9.7% improvement) and QASLS (117% improvement on left leg and 65% on the right) in comparison to the control group following the training intervention. No significant differences between the two groups were found for the Illinois agility test and 20 m sprint. However, there was a within-group improvement in 20 m sprint for the intervention group post training (2.2% decrease). The results demonstrate a modified Fifa 11+ protocol can be considered an effective neuromuscular training programme for reducing the risk of ACL injuries and improving athletic performance variables in female court sport athletes