A stress-based examination of the impact of injury occurrence in elite youth football players
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis examined the impact of non-contact injury on the physical and psychological development of elite youth academy footballers (14.1 to 23.0 years old) and considered which physical and psychological measures might indicate risk of non-contact injury. Three studies, based on longitudinal observational designs, surveyed players during a critical stage in their football careers across separate seasons, comprising of a pre-season and competitive season. Most observed players were within the under 18 age group since this age range has been associated with high frequency and severity of injury. Study 1 assessed the impact of hamstring strain injuries (HSI) due to the known prevalence in elite football. Players not sustaining a HSI exhibited increased eccentric hamstring strength (mean difference (MD), 47 N 95%, confidence interval (CI) = 3 to 91 N; probability value(p) = 0.0378) and body mass (MD, 1.7 kg 95% CI, 0.1 to 3.3 kg; p= 0.0427) and were 2 years younger (MD, -2.1 years; 95% CI, -3.6 to 0.7 years; p= 0.0053) compared to those sustaining a HSI. Study 2 examined the impact of reduced training and match availability. Low availability alleviated pitch-based exposure, as players with high availability had superior accumulation of training and match stimuli (e.g., total PlayerLoad TM: MD, 12726 au; 95% CI, 4211 to 21242 au; p = 0.0053). Contrasting with low availability, high availability players had significantly lower sit and reach scores (MD, -9.8 cm; 95% CI, -16.9 to -2.8 cm; p= 0.0091) and counter movement jump(CMJ) peak landing force asymmetry (MD, -14.86%; 95% CI, -29.14 to 0.57%; p = 0.0422) at pre-season. This suggested potential hypermobile characteristics and less neuromuscular control when landing could influence availability for the upcoming season. Study 3 also assessed the impact of reduced training and match availability and incorporated additional psychological measures. Compared to high availability, players with low availability had greater d…
abstract: This thesis examined the impact of non-contact injury on the physical and psychological development of elite youth academy footballers (14.1 to 23.0 years old) and considered which physical and psychological measures might indicate risk of non-contact injury. Three studies, based on longitudinal observational designs, surveyed players during a critical stage in their football careers across separate seasons, comprising of a pre-season and competitive season. Most observed players were within the under 18 age group since this age range has been associated with high frequency and severity of injury. Study 1 assessed the impact of hamstring strain injuries (HSI) due to the known prevalence in elite football. Players not sustaining a HSI exhibited increased eccentric hamstring strength (mean difference (MD), 47 N 95%, confidence interval (CI) = 3 to 91 N; probability value(p) = 0.0378) and body mass (MD, 1.7 kg 95% CI, 0.1 to 3.3 kg; p= 0.0427) and were 2 years younger (MD, -2.1 years; 95% CI, -3.6 to 0.7 years; p= 0.0053) compared to those sustaining a HSI. Study 2 examined the impact of reduced training and match availability. Low availability alleviated pitch-based exposure, as players with high availability had superior accumulation of training and match stimuli (e.g., total PlayerLoad TM: MD, 12726 au; 95% CI, 4211 to 21242 au; p = 0.0053). Contrasting with low availability, high availability players had significantly lower sit and reach scores (MD, -9.8 cm; 95% CI, -16.9 to -2.8 cm; p= 0.0091) and counter movement jump(CMJ) peak landing force asymmetry (MD, -14.86%; 95% CI, -29.14 to 0.57%; p = 0.0422) at pre-season. This suggested potential hypermobile characteristics and less neuromuscular control when landing could influence availability for the upcoming season. Study 3 also assessed the impact of reduced training and match availability and incorporated additional psychological measures. Compared to high availability, players with low availability had greater d…
author: Silver, James
language: eng
date published: 2022
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:39:51Z
provider: University of South Wales
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of South Wales