Can the FIFA11+ reduce injuries in Collegiate Male Soccer?
This randomised controlled trial examines the efficacy of the FIFA 11+ warm up program for injury prevention in male collegiate soccer. Over the course of the season, the authors found significant differences between the intervention and control group in number of injuries per team and per individual.
The overall reduction in injures between the intervention and control group was found to be 46.1% (increase compliance = reduced injury risk). The number of participants who needed to be exposed to the intervention to reduce 1 injury in the intervention group (number needed to treat [NNT]) was 3.
The FIFA11+ is an injury prevention program which has been designed to reduce the amount of lower extremity injuries in soccer for athletes older than 14 years. It has been designed as a comprehensive training/ match day warm up program to try to improve athlete and coach compliance. It consists of 15 exercises divided into 3 separate components: running exercises (8 min), balance exercises (10 min) and running exercises (2 min).
65 teams were randomized to participate in the study: 34 to the control group (850 players) and 31 to the intervention group (675 players). Over one full soccer season, the authors reported statistically significant reductions in injuries between the control and intervention groups. They also found that, when the results were stratified for type of injury, the injury rates were also significantly lower in the intervention group (16 ACL injuries vs. 3 ACL injuries, 115 ankle injuries vs. 59 ankle injuries etc).
This study supports the implementation of the FIFA 11+ injury prevention program in male collegiate soccer as an injury prevention tool. The program has also previously been shown to be an efficient means of achieving optimal physiological readiness for sport and to increase muscle activation in key muscle groups.
The FIFA 11+ injury prevention program is freely available here!
> From: Silvers-Granelli et al., Am J Sports Med 43 (2016) 2628-2637. All rights reserved to The Author(s). Click here for the Pubmed summary.
