The Effect of Six-Week Specific Injury Prevention Exercises on Performance in Female Volleyball Athletes with Neuromuscular Knee Valgus Defect: Quasi-Experimental Study

Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, School of Humanity Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

2 MSc in Corrective Exercise and Sports Injury, Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, School of Humanity Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

10.48305/jrrs.2023.41331.1018

Abstract

Introduction: The key skills of volleyball require balance, agility, speed, and power in addition to core stability. Most volleyball injuries occur in the lower extremity during skilled performance. One of the reliable protocols in preventing sport injury and enhancing the performance is the “specific volleyball injury prevention exercise intervention”. In this study, the possible effect of the exercise intervention on core stability, balance, agility, speed, and power in female volleyball players with dynamic knee valgus (DKV) defect was investigated.
Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study included 30 female volleyball players. The assessments included double-leg squat (DLS) test, McGill core stability test, Y-Balance Test (YBT), 20-yard speed test, vertical jump test, and agility T-test. The training group participated in six weeks of the “injury prevention exercise intervention” and the control group participated in their usual routine at the same time. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) test was employed to analyze data in a significance level of α = 0.05.
Results: The findings revealed significant improvement in core stability by 12.6% or 5.39 seconds (P = 0.01), speed by 1.64% or 0.07 seconds (P = 0.03), power by 11.84% or 3.6 cm (P = 0.01), and agility by 3.97% from 11.32 to 10.87 seconds, (P = 0.01) in the training group after 6 weeks of exercise intervention in comparison to control group. While ‌the 3.68% increase in the balance record (76.3 cm) in the training group was not statistically significant (P = 0.11). The control group did not show significant change (P = 0.05). All the parameters improved significantly post-intervention in training group compared to pre-test measures (P ≤ 0.02).
Conclusion: Some athletes believed that valid injury prevention exercise interventions have negative impact on performance and they do not use these interventions. However, the findings of the present study showed that six weeks of exercise intervention significantly improved the core stability, speed, agility and power of female volleyball athletes with dynamic knee valgus. Therefore, performing this training intervention is recommended for female volleyball athletes with dynamic knee valgus defects and their coaches

Keywords

Main Subjects

  1. Trajkovic N, Bogataj S. Effects of neuromuscular training on motor competence and physical performance in young female volleyball players. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17(5): 1755.
  2. Solanki HP. Effect of core stability training on breath holding time and respiratory rate among volleyball players. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health 2021; 8(5): 82-5.
  3. Lestari A, Wibawa A, Dewi A, Sugiritama W. Providing of core stability exercise increase the core muscle strength of adult male Balinese vocational polytechnic volleyball athletes. Bali Anatomy Journal 2020; 3(1): 14-8.
  4. Sopa IS, Pomohaci M. Using coaching techniques in assessing and developing the static and dynamic balance level of young volleyball players. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov Series IX: Sciences of Human Kinetics 2021; 14(1): 89-100.
  5. Saki F, Mohammadi H, Shakiba E, Ramezani F. Does SportsMetrics soccer training improve LESS and Dynamic Balance in soccer players? A randomized controlled trial. Physical Treatments 2021; 11(4): 269-78.
  6. Chuang CH, Hung MH, Chang CY, Wang YY, Lin KC. Effects of agility training on skill-related physical capabilities in young volleyball players. Appl Sci 2022; 12(4): 1904.
  7. Sheikh JA, Hassan MA. Effect of plyometric training with and without weighted vest on physical variables among college men volleyball players. Int J Physiol Nutr Phys Educ 2018; 3(1): 703-6.
  8. Kushkestani M, Ebrahimpour Nosrani S, Parvani M, Rezaei S, Kariminazar N. Evaluation of the relationship between explosive power and anthropometric and body composition indices in female volleyball players. New Approaches in Sport Sciences 2019; 1(1): 157-68. [In Persian].
  9. Alsarraf BJ, Eisenman P, Salahaldeen Mohamed bakr M. Exploring the relationships among core stability, selected physical performance measures, and spiked ball velocity in male Kuwaiti volleyball players. The International Scientific Journal of Physical Education and Sport Sciences 2015; 1(1): 22-34.
  10. Zhang Y. An investigation on the anthropometry profile and its relationship with physical performance of elite Chinese women volleyball players [MSc Thesis]. Lismore, Australia: Southern Cross University; 2010.
  11. Behboodian N, Amiri R, Letafatkar A. Compartion of the effects of static, dynamic and injury-prevention program warm-up protocols on knee valgus during drop landing and single-leg hop test in active 18-25 years men. Journal of Research Sport Rehabilitation 2020; 7(14): 71-86. [In Persian].
  12. Mohammadi H, Ghaeeni S. Prevalence of neuromuscular deficiencies associated with non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury in healthy collegiate student-athletes. Physical Treatments 2019; 9(4): 193-202.
  13. Schwameder H. Effect of a neuromuscular home training program on dynamic knee valgus (DKV) in lateral single-leg landings. ISBS Proceedings Archive 2020; 38(1): 186.
  14. Zazulak BT, Hewett TE, Reeves NP, Goldberg B, Cholewicki J. The effects of core proprioception on knee injury: A prospective biomechanical-epidemiological study. Am J Sports Med 2007; 35(3): 368-73.
  15. Goncalves CA, Lopes TJD, Nunes C, Marinho DA, Neiva HP. Neuromuscular jumping performance and upper-body horizontal power of volleyball players. J Strength Cond Res 2021; 35(8): 2236-41.
  16. Mohajeran E, Khoshraftar Yazdi N, Mohammadi M. The Effect of eight weeks of training on core stability and proprioceptive neuromuscular trunk women basketball elite. Journal of Research Sport Rehabilitation 2017; 5(9): 69-77. [In Persian].
  17. Hewett TE, Johnson DL. ACL prevention programs: Fact or fiction? Orthopedics 2010; 33(1): 36-9.
  18. Mohammadi H, Daneshmandi H, Alizadeh MH, Shamsimajlan A. Screening tests for neuromuscular defects affecting non-contact ACL injury- A review article. Sci J Kurdistan Univ Med Sci 2015; 20(2): 85-105. [In Persian].
  19. Norouzi K, Mahdavinezhad R, Mohammadi MR, Ariamanesh A. The effect of neuromuscular training on hip strength, core and jump-landing mechanics in athletes with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Journal of Research Sport Rehabilitation 2019; 7(13): 77-89. [In Persian].
  20. Noyes FR, Barber-Westin SD. Neuromuscular retraining in female adolescent athletes: Effect on athletic performance indices and noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injury rates. Sports 2015; 3(2): 56-76.
  21. Fakhraei Rad N, Mohammadi H. The effect of sportsMetrics on dynamic knee valgus (DKV), core endurance (CE) and postural stability in soccer female athletes with dynamic knee valgus. The Scientific Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 2022. [In Press].
  22. Saber P, Norasteh AA, Ghiami Rad A. Effect of core stability training program on tuck jump kinematics in male youth soccer players with core dysfunction. Journal of Exercise and Health Science 2021; 1(1): 37-50.
  23. Sadigursky D, Braid JA, De Lira DNL, Machado BAB, Carneiro RJF, Colavolpe PO. The FIFA 11+ injury prevention program for soccer players: a systematic review. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil 2017; 9: 18.
  24. Steffen K, Bakka HM, Myklebust G, Bahr R. Performance aspects of an injury prevention program: A ten-week intervention in adolescent female football players. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2008; 18(5): 596-604.
  25. Mohammadi H, Daneshmandi H, Alizadeh MH, Shamsimajlan A. The effect of ACL intervention programs on the improvement of neuromuscular deficiencies and reducing the incidence of ACL injury (A review article). The Scientific Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 2015; 4(2): 159-69. [In Persian].
  26. Ghobadi Nezha S, Hoseini SH, Norasteh AA. Effect of six weeks of progressive jump-landing training on jump shooting accuracy and knee valgus angle in male basketball players with dynamic knee valgus. J Sport Biomech 2021; 7(2): 148-63. [In Persian].
  27. Nesser TW, Huxel KC, Tincher JL, Okada T. The relationship between core stability and performance in division I football players. J Strength Cond Res 2008; 22(6): 1750-4.
  28. Okada T, Huxel KC, Nesser TW. Relationship between core stability, functional movement, and performance. J Strength Cond Res 2011; 25(1): 252-61.
  29. Nagi MA, Alin L. Effect of resistance stretching on flexibility, power and performance of jump float serve for elite volleyball players. Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport/Science, Movement and Health 2020; 20(1): 28-33.
  30. Cintre NVR, Prabhakar R, Methe A. Effect of calisthenics exercises on the vertical high jump on intermediate female volleyball players. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health 2022; 9(3): 93-96 2022.
  31. Noyes FR, Barber-Westin SD, Smith ST, Campbell T. A training program to improve neuromuscular indices in female high school volleyball players. J Strength Cond Res 2011; 25(8): 2151-60.
  32. Noyes FR, Barber-Westin S. Return to sport after ACL reconstruction and other knee operations: Limiting the risk of reinjury and maximizing athletic performance. Cham, Switzerland: Cham Springer; 2019.
  33. Zemkova E, Hamar D. Sport-specific assessment of the effectiveness of neuromuscular training in young athletes. Front Physiol 2018; 9: 264.
  34. Benis R, Bonato M, La Torre A. Elite female basketball players' body-weight neuromuscular training and performance on the y-balance test. J Athl Train 2016; 51(9): 688-95.
  35. Zazulak BT, Hewett TE, Reeves NP, Goldberg B, Cholewicki J. Deficits in neuromuscular control of the trunk predict knee injury risk: a prospective biomechanical-epidemiologic study. Am J Sports Med 2007; 35(7): 1123-30.
  36. Sharma A, Geovinson SG, Singh SJ. Effects of a nine-week core strengthening exercise program on vertical jump performances and static balance in volleyball players with trunk instability. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 2012; 52(6): 606-15.
  37. Hudson C, Garrison JC, Pollard K. Y-balance normative data for female collegiate volleyball players. Phys Ther Sport 2016; 22: 61-5.
  38. Chimera NJ, Kremer K. SportsMetrics training improves power and landing in high school rowers. Int J Sports Phys Ther 2016; 11(1): 44-53.
  39. Mirzaee F, Sheikhhoseini R, Piri H. The acute effects of one session reactive neuromuscular training on balance and knee joint position sense in female athletes with dynamic knee valgus. Acta Gymnica 2020; 50(3): 122-9.
  40. Shah Hosseini M, Rajabi R, Minoonejad H , Hossein Barati A. Effect of eight weeks of FIFA 11+ training on the agility and explosive power of male college volleyball players. Ann Mil Health Sci Res 2019; 17(3): e97233.
  41. Saki F, Mohammadi H, Shakiba E. The effect of SportsMetrics Soccer-Training (SMST) on the Performance of Young Soccer Players. Studies in Sport Medicine 2020; 12(27): 201-18. [In Persian].
  42. Granados C, Izquierdo M, Ibanez J, Bonnabau H, Gorostiaga EM. Differences in physical fitness and throwing velocity among elite and amateur female handball players. Int J Sports Med 2007; 28(10): 860-7.
  1. Chamorro R, Lorenzo MG. Body mass index and body composition: An anthropometric study of 2,500 high-level athletes. Lecturas: Educación Física y Deportes. 2004; 76. [In Spanish].