Acute effects of sprint training for hamstrings injury prevention on male college soccer players

Abstract

In soccer, the hamstring is one of the most common injury portions. Among the various interventions, it can be assumed that modification of sprinting movement is directly helpful in hamstring injuries. The acute effects of sprinting interventions would be useful for pre-match interventions if they were immediate. The present study aimed to clarify the acute effects of sprint training for hamstring injury prevention on a collegiate soccer player. A total of twenty–seven male collegiate soccer players participated in the present study. Participants performed a 30 m sprint test as a pre-test after warming up. Subsequently, an hour-long sprint training session, targeting the modification of movements associated with hamstring injuries, was conducted, followed by a post-test involving a 30 m sprint. From these trials, 30 m time and kinematic variables associated with a hamstring injury; trunk angle, thigh angle and shank angle, were computed. The results revealed a significant positive modification in the trunk angle between the pre-test and post-test sessions. However, no marked differences were observed in 30 m time and other kinematic data. Therefore, sprinting modification was shown to have an acute effect on improving trunk angle without affecting the running speed.