Effect of specific movement training on injury prevention in female volleyball players

Purpose: Injuries in volleyball players are usually related to acute stress and overuse movements due to sport’s specific demands. The repetition of jumping actions, quick changes of directions and overhead movements impacts mainly upper and lower extremity and occurs differently in male or female players in relation to age and level of competition. In order to reduce the possibility of musculoskeletal trauma, several sport conditioning programs have been purposed to prevent injuries and improve the movement’s quality. The aim of present work is to evaluate the effects of a specific training program on injury prevention in female volleyball players. Methods: Twenty two healthy female volleyball players were involved in current work. They were recruited from Libertas Volley Forlì team (Emilia Romagna regional league) and divided in 2 groups: intervention group (IG - n: 11, age range 15-28 years) and control group (CG – n: 11, age range 15-17 years). They were submitted to a specific training program for 16 weeks in addition to sport conditioning. In particular, IG received an individualized corrective program focused on joint mobility, core stability and specific strength, while CG executed a general core stability and balance training program (2 sessions per week for 16 weeks). Both group were evaluated pre and post training using Functional Movement Screen® (FMS) assessment system. Results: IG showed a significant improvement in FMS scores from 14.63 ± 1,80 to 16.63 ± 1,74 (+2 points, p<0.05), while CG showed a minimal increase from 15 ± 1,34 to 15.09 ± 1,30 (+0.09 points, p>0.05). The improvement in the intervention group was statistically significant at the 98% confidence level. Injury risk profiles improved more markedly in IG: the number of athletes with FMS scores considered at higher injury risk (<14) decreased from 5 to 1, whereas in the CG the reduction was only from 5 to 4. Conclusions: An integrated training program combining core stability and individualized corrective exercises is more effective in improving FMS scores than core stability alone. Although a direct causal relationship between FMS scores improvement and reduced injury rates cannot be definitively established within the study timeframe, these findings support the use of FMS as a valuable assessment and potential injury prevention tool in volleyball.