Intra- and inter-limb strength asymmetry in soccer: a comparison of professional and under-18 players
Article
Bishop, C., Coratella, G. and Beato, M. 2021. Intra- and inter-limb strength asymmetry in soccer: a comparison of professional and under-18 players. Sports. 9 (9). https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9090129
Type | Article |
---|---|
Title | Intra- and inter-limb strength asymmetry in soccer: a comparison of professional and under-18 players |
Authors | Bishop, C., Coratella, G. and Beato, M. |
Abstract | (1) Background: the present study examined the isokinetic peak torque exerted by both knee extensors and flexors, anterior–posterior imbalance and the magnitude and direction of inter-limb asymmetry in professional and academy soccer players. (2) Methods: one hundred soccer players (professional = 50, elite academy = 50) volunteered to take part in this investigation. An isokinetic dynamometer was used to measure the knee extensor (quadriceps) and flexors muscle (hamstrings) torques of the limbs as well as inter-limb asymmetries—using a standard percentage difference equation. (3) Results: professional players exhibited significantly greater (effect size [ES] = large) strength levels in the quadriceps and hamstrings under both testing conditions, significantly higher (small to moderate) intra-limb ratio values for 60°·s−1 but not for the 300°·s−1 test condition, significantly (small to moderate) lower inter-limb asymmetry values for all test conditions, with the exception of the hamstrings at 60°·s−1 and the direction of asymmetry was poor to slight, indicating that limb dominance was rarely the same between groups. (4) Conclusions: this study shows that isokinetic assessments, i.e., peak torque exerted by both knee extensors and flexors and intra-limb ratio, and the subsequent inter-limb asymmetry, i.e., magnitude and direction, can differentiate between professional and academy soccer players. |
Keywords | football; strength; isokinetic; sports; prevention |
Research Group | Strength and Conditioning at the London Sport Institute |
Publisher | MDPI AG |
Journal | Sports |
ISSN | 2075-4663 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 13 Sep 2021 |
Sep 2021 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 15 Sep 2021 |
Accepted | 07 Sep 2021 |
Submitted | 24 Aug 2021 |
Output status | Published |
Publisher's version | License |
Copyright Statement | © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9090129 |
Web of Science identifier | WOS:000702036300001 |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/897xw
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