Muscle injury characteristics and incidence rates in men’s amateur soccer: A one season prospective study

ABSTRACT

The objectives of the study were to examine the incident rate (IR), characteristics, and mechanisms of muscle injuries of 121 men amateur soccer players that voluntarily participated in this project. Sixty-five muscle injuries with an overall IR of 3.62/1000 h, 95% CI 2.7–4.5, were reported. The most frequently injured muscle groups were the hamstrings (IR 1.78/1000 h, 95% CI 1.1–2.3), followed by the adductors (IR 1.5/1000 h, 95% CI 0.93–2.06). Most muscle injuries were characterized as mild (IR 2.3/1000 h, 95% CI 1.53–2.92) or minimal (IR 1.28/1000 h, 95% CI 1.16–2.39. Higher incidence of injury sustained during matches (IR 14.09 injuries/1000 h, 95% CI 9.49–18.7), than in training (IR 1.88 injuries/1000 h, 95% CI 1.19–2.56). The most frequent injury mechanisms were high-speed running (84.4%) and change of direction (44.4%), for hamstring and adductors-related groin injuries, respectively. Players aged over 24 years had a 7-fold increased risk to sustain a hamstring injury but a lower risk to sustain an adductor-related groin injury. Injury prevention and rehabilitation management strategies may reduce muscle injury rates in amateur soccer.

KEYWORDS:

• Muscle injuries
• amateur
• soccer
• incidence rates

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Afxentios Kekelekis

Afxentios Kekelekis Physiotherapist and PhD candidate at the Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences of Serres at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His research interests are on injury prevention in amateur soccer focusing on identification of injury profile of players. Additional areas of interest include return to play strategies and rehabilitation. He has more than 20 years of clinical experience in musculoskeletal rehabilitation. He is as senior physiotherapist and sport science director of a semi-professional soccer team.

Filipe Manuel Clemente

Filipe Manuel Clemente Ph.D. Sport Sciences – Sports Training His research has led to more than 200 publications, >100 of them with impact factor. He has conducted studies in training load monitoring, performance assessments, small-sided games and match analysis. He is also working in an international partnership with a data analytics enterprise to monitor training load in players.

Eleftherios Kellis

Eleftherios Kellis is a professor of kinesiology at the Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences of Serres at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where currently teaches kinesiology and biomechanics. His main research interests include the examination of architecture, activation and force generation of hamstring muscles and soccer biomechanics. He acts as reviewer for several scientific journals in the field of sport and exercise sciences.