Context: Injury prevention programs for the lower extremities are effective in team-sport athletes. Objective: To identify barriers and facilitators among professional ice hockey players and staff members for adhering to an injury prevention program. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting and Participants: A questionnaire about barriers and facilitators related to knowledge/perceptions, beliefs, adoption, and habits about injury prevention was filled out by Swiss professional male ice hockey players and staff members. Main Outcome Measures: Frequencies of ratings were calculated and binary logistic regression analysis was applied to predict a relationship between a high/low perceived benefit of an injury prevention program and player characteristics. Results: Knowledge, perceived benefit, and relevance of injury prevention as well as awareness of high risk of injuries in ice hockey were identified as important facilitators. Players’ habit of exercise performance was identified as a barrier. Program understanding of staff members was identified as a facilitator and barrier. No significant relationships were observed between a high/low perceived benefit of an injury prevention program and age (P = .85), nationality (P = .53), level of education (P = .63), National League experience (P = .50), or occurrence of lower-extremity injuries in the previous season (P = .10). Conclusions: Players and staff members clearly rated perceived benefits of an injury prevention program, which can be considered an important facilitator of the uptake and adoption of such a program in ice hockey teams. Players should be educated about well-performed injury prevention exercises. Staff members should be educated about the aim of a regular injury prevention program. An injury prevention program might be implemented in players of all ages, levels of education, and experience in the National League, irrespective of previous injuries. Identified barriers and facilitators should be addressed when implementing an injury prevention program in a setting of professional ice hockey teams in the future.
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Perceived Barriers to and Facilitators of an Injury Prevention Program Among Professional Male Ice Hockey Players and Staff Members
Romana Brunner, Mario Bizzini, Nicola A. Maffiuletti, and Karin Niedermann
Timing Effect on Training-Session Rating of Perceived Exertion in Top-Class Soccer Referees
Carlo Castagna, Mario Bizzini, Susana Cristina Araújo Póvoas, and Stefano D’Ottavio
Purpose:
To examine the effect of recall timing on training-session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) in a population of athletes well familiarized with the method and procedures during a 5-d training microcycle.
Methods:
Fifty-one top-class field referees (FRs) (age 38.4 ± 3.3 y, height 181 ± 5.6 cm, body mass 76.8 ± 6.8 kg, body-mass index 23.4 ± 1.7 kg/m2, body fat 20.4% ± 3.6%, international refereeing experience 5 ± 3.5 y) from 43 national football associations worldwide, preselected by the FIFA refereeing department for officiating during the FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil, volunteered for this study. The FRs were randomly allocated into 3 assessment groups (n = 17 each), defined according to the timing of the sRPE, ie, immediately at the end of or 30 min or 7 h after the training sessions’ end. The CR10 Borg scale was used to rate the training sessions (n = 5). All FRs again rated each training session of the 5-d training microcycle on the next morning (~20 h after) for confirmation (absolute and relative reliability).
Results:
No significant timing effect was found between or within groups. Relative reliability ranged from large to very large with trivial within- and between-groups differences.
Conclusions:
This study showed no effect of recall timing on postexercise RPE when well-familiarized athletes are submitted to training during a weekly microcycle. Posttraining RPE was reported to be a reliable subjective measure; however, specific timing is advisable to reduce difference in RPE values.
Effectiveness of FIFA 11+ Injury Prevention Programs in Reducing Head and Neck Injuries, Including Concussion, Among Soccer Players: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Wesam Saleh A. Al Attar, Ali Majrashi, and Mario Bizzini
The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) 11+ and 11+ Kids injury prevention programs have shown success in reducing overall injury risk in soccer players, yet their specific impact on head and neck injuries remains inadequately explored. Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of FIFA 11+ and 11+ Kids injury prevention programs in reducing the incidence of head and neck injuries among soccer players. Methods: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, 2 investigators independently conducted searches in databases (Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, and PEDro) using keywords like “FIFA 11+,” “football,” “soccer,” and “injury prevention.” Only randomized controlled trials assessing FIFA 11+ programs in soccer players were included. Data analysis used the random effects model with RevMan Meta-Analysis software (version 5). Results: Among 397 studies, 4 met inclusion criteria. Pooled results from 7109 players and 532,341 exposure hours indicated a significant 40% reduction in head and neck injuries per 1000 hours of exposure in the intervention group compared to the control group (injury risk ratio 0.60, 95% CI, 0.41–0.88). Conclusion: Implementing FIFA 11+ injury prevention programs significantly reduces the risk of head and neck injuries in soccer players, offering a compelling alternative to traditional warm-ups. This study contributes valuable evidence for optimizing injury prevention strategies in soccer training regimens.