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The Training Effects of Lower-Body Wearable Resistance in a Small-Sided Game Approach on Strength, Speed and Change of Direction Performance in Semi-Elite Soccer Players and How It Can Alleviate Hip and Groin Injuries

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Thesis(1.4 MB)

Date

2023

Authors

Supervisor

Harrison, Craig

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Master of Philosophy

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Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Soccer is the most played sport in the world. Because of this, it has more professional clubs and more professional athletes compared to any other sport. However, it also comes with a high injury risk, rate, and a congested in-season schedule. One of the biggest and most discussed issues is determining how to train efficiently. Finding the optimal way to train not just from a physical performance stance but also from a soccer specific and a time constraint stance is imperative. Wearable resistance aims to bridge the gap between physical and technical training simultaneously as a training modality. Wearable resistance training is a form of strength training where a fixed load is placed on the body in some manner. It uses the concept of moving micro-loads at high velocities through both accelerating and decelerating forces to load the muscles effectively. However, very limited research has looked at the practical effects of wearable resistance in soccer, with even less looking at the overall training effects it may have. This thesis will determine the incidence for hip and groin injuries in elite soccer by completing a narrative review. This review will also determine the best preventative and pre-habilitative strategies related to hip and groin injuries in soccer. A reliability study will also be presented on a novel groin squeeze device for measuring reliable maximal groin adduction strength. This study was completed following the results found in the narrative review to find a suitable and cost-effective tool to measure maximal groin adduction strength as it was determined as being a key injury risk factor identified in the narrative review. This study was administered in completion on sixteen semi-elite male soccer players across three separate testing days ranging from one to sixty days between sessions. The study was completed to determine the intra- and inter-reliability of the device, which was then used as a testing tool for the training study. Finally, the training study examined the effects of lower-body wearable resistance in a small-sided game approach as a training modality to maintain and improve strength, speed, and change of direction performance in soccer athletes. This study used thirty-seven male elite soccer players, of which nineteen completed the full study, across two Wellington Phoenix Football Club Academy teams. The participants were split into either a control group or intervention group, with the intervention group wearing wearable resistance. They were put through a battery of physical measures pre-testing and then underwent a sixteen-session intervention. Each intervention session included the same strength, speed and change of direction program as well as a small-sided game as part of their regular soccer trainings. Following all sixteen intervention sessions a post-test was conducted on the small physical measures. The main findings from this thesis were that: 1) the wearable resistance training effects on groin squeeze peak force were large and statistically significant; 2) the changes in isokinetic knee flexor and extensor strength for the most part was trivial to small and non-significant; 3) the wearable resistance training effects on 20 m sprint were large and statistically significant; 4) the effect wearable resistance training has on change of direction is trivial outside of the velocity changes seen in linear testing; 5) the combination of several preventative and pre-habilitative strategies for hip and groin injuries are more effective; and 6) the novel groin squeeze device demonstrated comprehensive intra- and inter-session reliability for maximal groin adduction strength. These findings suggest that implementing several preventative and pre-habilitative strategies for hip and groin injuries are the most effective way to reduce the risk of hip and groin injuries in soccer. Furthermore, they suggest that implementing lower-body wearable resistance into a soccer training session are likely to elicit meaningful improvements in sprinting and isometric strength performance. Including lower-body wearable resistance in soccer, or other sports where sprinting and isometric strength are important performance measures, should be considered. However, more research is needed to better understand the full training effect lower-body wearable resistance might provide.

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https://hdl.handle.net/10292/16308

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