Context:

Anecdotal evidence suggests a relationship between strength imbalances and injury incidence.

Objective:

To examine the relationship between bilateral strength imbalance and incidence of injury.

Participants and Design:

Thirty national- or international-standard flatwater kayakers were classified as noninjured, trunk injured, or upper-limb injured based on the number of days lost from training over the last 6 months. Bilateral strength imbalance was measured using a kayak ergometer, producing data for peak force and force impulse for each side of each stroke. Bilateral strength imbalance was then compared between the noninjured, trunk-injured, and upper-limb-injured groups by means of 2 one-way ANOVAs. No participants reported training days lost through lower-limb injury.

Results:

A significantly elevated bilateral peak-force strength imbalance was observed between the upper-limb-injured and the noninjured groups.

Conclusion:

These data support the existence of a relationship between strength imbalance and incidence of injury.