Footballscience.net
As previous literature updates, I have performed a PubCrawler search looking for football articles in NCBI Medline (PubMed) and GenBank databases.
Following studies were retrieved for this week:
#1 Improvement of Groin Pain in a Football Player with Femoroacetabular Impingement via a Correction of the Pelvic Position-A Case Report
Reference: J Clin Med. 2023 Nov 30;12(23):7443. doi: 10.3390/jcm12237443.
Authors: Oliver Ludwig, Günther Schneider, Jens Kelm
Summary: Femoroacetabular impingement is one possible cause for groin pain and can lead to long periods of absence for football players. In cam impingement, the end-grade position of the leg at kicking makes the hip particularly prone to faulty contact between the acetabulum and the femoral head. Studies suggest that the resting position of the pelvis in the sagittal plane may have an important role in the biomechanics of movement in the presence of cam impingement. A 19-year-old male competitive footballer complained of sudden groin pain during a period of low athletic load. Biomechanical tests (3D posture and isometric strength analyses) showed that unbalanced individual strength training had resulted in an increased forward tilt of the pelvis. At the same time, cam impingement was confirmed radiologically, which obviously contributed to the sudden onset of the symptoms. The kicking technique of the athlete showed increased hip and trunk flexion, which also indicated a muscular imbalance. Targeted strength and stretching exercises three times a week improved the pelvic position in terms of reduced anteversion. At the same time, the patient performed strength exercises to improve his kicking technique. After 8 weeks, improvements in his pelvic position and global posture and increased muscle strength could be verified. At the same time, the athlete was free of complaints again. When groin pain occurs in football players with cam impingement, special attention should be paid to the resting position of the pelvis in the sagittal plane. Correcting increased pelvic anteversion can prevent unfavourable end-grade collisions of the acetabulum and femoral head during kicking with strong hip flexion and adduction. Possible changes in the pelvic position due to adverse individual strength training performed by young athletes should always be kept in mind.
#2 'After they see what you have, they contact you': a qualitative study of national team football players', coaches' and clinicians' experiences in engaging with a context-specific injury surveillance system
Reference: Sci Med Footb. 2023 Dec 6:1-12. doi: 10.1080/24733938.2023.2290077. Online ahead of print.
Authors: Sandro Vella, Caroline Bolling, Evert Verhagen, Isabel Sarah Moore
Summary: Sports injury surveillance systems aid injury prevention, but their development without considering end-users' perspectives has led to low adherence and honesty in self-reporting by players, compromising their effectiveness. Context-specific injury surveillance systems have been proposed to address these challenges, but there is a limited understanding of stakeholders' perceptions and experiences in using them. Following the implementation of a context-specific injury surveillance system with 100% player adherence over 60 weeks, the study aimed to investigate Under-21 Maltese national football team players', coaches' and clinicians' experiences of how and why they engaged with the system. Seventeen semi-structured interviews with Under-21 Maltese male national football team players (n = 12), their coaches (n = 3) and clinicians (n = 2) were conducted. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Participants highlighted questionnaire-related factors that motivated engagement with the context-specific injury surveillance system (theme 1) and factors influencing further engagement with the system based on stakeholders' actions (theme 2). Perceived outcomes experienced as a result of engaging with the injury surveillance system (theme 3), in turn, motivated players to continue reporting and engaging with the system. To encourage players' sustained reporting, injury-related information collected from well-designed questionnaires should serve to stimulate communication and teamwork among stakeholders, to prevent injuries and enhance performance.
#3 The intelligent football players' motion recognition system based on convolutional neural network and big data
Reference: Heliyon. 2023 Nov 14;9(11):e22316. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22316. eCollection 2023 Nov.
Authors: Xin Wang, Yingqing Guo
Download link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10694318/pdf/main.pdf
Summary: This article focuses on evaluating the efficacy of intelligent image processing techniques using deep learning algorithms in the context of football, to present pragmatic solutions for enhancing the functional strength training of football players. The article commences by delving into the prevailing research landscape concerning image recognition in football. It then embarks on a comprehensive examination of the prevailing landscape in soccer image recognition research. Subsequently, a novel soccer image classification model is meticulously crafted through the fusion of Space-Time Graph Neural Network (STGNN) and Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM). The devised model introduces the potency of STGNN to extract spatial features from sequences of images, adeptly harnessing spatial information through judiciously integrated graph convolutional layers. These layers are further bolstered by the infusion of graph attention modules and channel attention modules, working in tandem to amplify salient information within distinct channels. Concurrently, the temporal dimension is adroitly addressed by the incorporation of BiLSTM, effectively capturing the temporal dynamics inherent in image sequences. Rigorous simulation analyses are conducted to gauge the prowess of this model. The empirical outcomes resoundingly affirm the potency of the proposed deep hybrid attention network model in the realm of soccer image processing tasks. In the arena of action recognition and classification, this model emerges as a paragon of performance enhancement. Impressively, the model notched an accuracy of 94.34 %, precision of 92.35 %, recall of 90.44 %, and F1-score of 89.22 %. Further scrutiny of the model's image recognition capabilities unveils its proficiency in extracting comprehensive features and maintaining stable recognition performance when applied to football images. Consequently, the football intelligent image processing model based on deep hybrid attention networks, as formulated within this article, attains high recognition accuracy and demonstrates consistent recognition performance. These findings offer invaluable insights for injury prevention and personalized skill enhancement in the training of football players.
#4 Does pro-environmental attitude predicts pro-environmental behavior? Comparing sustainability connection in emotional and cognitive environments among football fans and university students
Reference: Heliyon. 2023 Nov 7;9(11):e21758. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21758. eCollection 2023 Nov.
Authors: Ricardo Cayolla, Marco Escadas, Brian P McCullough, Rui Biscaia, Ana Cabilhas, Teresa Santos
Download link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10694183/pdf/main.pdf
Summary: Environmental sustainability is an imperative topic in contemporary business-related research, aiming to understand and predict how individuals' environmentally friendly behaviors can be encouraged. This research aims to empirically examine the relationship between individuals' pro-environmental attitude and pro-environmental behavior; and to compare two groups of individuals that encompass emotional and cognitive links to environmental sustainability: emotionally involved sport fans and socially conscious university students. Two studies, involving more than 1400 respondents, were conducted. Study 1 uses structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the relationship between consumers' environmental attitudes and environmental behaviors. Study 2 uses SEM multigroup analysis to compare the attitudes and behaviors of sport fans and university students. The results showed that participants' pro-environmental attitude had a positive and significant effect on pro-environmental behavior. The type of consumer plays an important role in strengthening the relationship between pro-environmental attitude and pro-environmental behavior. Despite the higher average levels of pro-environmental attitude and pro-environment behavior evidenced by the sport fans, the influence of attitude on behavior is higher on socially conscious students, the group with a more cognitive and intrinsic link with the natural environment and sustainability initiatives. Despite the positive link attitudes-behaviors, empirical insights suggest that the connection between sport fans and the club is vital to reinforce the commitment with a stronger match between attitudes and behaviors. The findings also have implications for practitioners and policymakers in optimizing their strategies to encourage effective pro-environmental actions.
#5 The Impact of Eccentric or Isometric Training on Strength, Architecture, and Sprinting across an Australian Football Season
Reference: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2023 Nov 27. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003326. Online ahead of print.
Authors: Ryan G Timmins, Dean Filopoulos, Jake Giannakis, Victor Nguyen, Joshua D Ruddy, Jack T Hickey, Nirav Maniar, Christopher W Pollard, Nicholas Morgan, Jonathon Weakley, David A Opar
Summary: The purpose was to investigate impact of an isometric (ISO) or Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) intervention, alongside a sprint training program on hamstring strength, architecture and sprinting performance in Australian Footballers. Twenty-five male athletes undertook NHE (n = 13) or ISO (n = 12) training across a 38-week period (including pre-season and in-season). Biceps femoris long head (BFlh) architecture, isometric and eccentric knee flexor strength were assessed at baseline, end of pre-season (14-weeks) and at the conclusion of the intervention. Sprint times and force-velocity profiles were determined at baseline and at the end of pre-season. Following the intervention both groups had significant improvements in BFlh fascicle length (NHE: 1.16 cm, 95%CI 0.68 to 1.63 cm, d = 1.88, p < 0.001; ISO: 0.82 cm, 95%CI 0.57 to 1.06 cm, d = 1.70, p < 0.001), muscle thickness (NHE: 0.11 cm, 95%CI 0.01 to 0.21 cm, d = 0.51, p = 0.032; ISO: 0.21 cm, 95%CI 0.10 to 0.32 cm, d = 0.86, p = 0.002) and eccentric strength (NHE: 83 N, 95%CI 53 to 114 N, d = 1.79, p < 0.001; ISO: 83 N, 95%CI 17 to 151 N, d = 1.17, p = 0.018). Both groups also finished the intervention weaker isometrically than they started (NHE: -45 N, 95%CI -81 to -8 N, d = -1.03, p = 0.022; ISO: -80 N, 95%CI -104 to -56 N, d = -3.35, p < 0.001). At the end of pre-season the NHE group had improved their 5 m sprint time by 3.3% (±2.0%) and their maximum horizontal velocity was 3% (±2.1) greater than the ISO group who saw no changes. Both ISO and NHE training with a periodised sprinting program can increase BFlh fascicle length, thickness, and eccentric strength in Australian Footballers. NHE training also improves 5 m sprint time and maximum velocity. However, both interventions reduced isometric strength. These findings provide unique, contextually relevant insights into the adaptations possible in semi-professional athletes.
#6 Is football coming out? Anti-gay attitudes, social desirability, and pluralistic ignorance in amateur and professional football
Reference: Soc Sci Res. 2024 Jan:117:102947. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102947. Epub 2023 Nov 8.
Authors: Georg Kanitsar, Katharina Pfaff
Summary: Past work consistently points to improved attitudes towards gay athletes and growing support for homosexuality, yet reports of a homophobic climate in amateur and professional football persist. Here, we explore two potential explanations for the prevalence of homophobia in football despite low levels of anti-gay attitudes: social desirability and pluralistic ignorance. We conduct an online survey among a football-affine and socio-demographically diverse sample in the UK. We find that anti-gay attitudes are rare. Importantly, estimates from a list experiment do not differ from the prevalence measured by direct questions, providing no evidence of social desirability. By contrast, second-order beliefs about anti-gay attitudes substantially and consistently exceed attitudes, pointing towards pluralistic ignorance as the most likely explanation. We conclude by emphasizing the need for transparent communication to reduce pluralistic ignorance and correct misperceptions among players, officials and supporters.
#7 Antisocial behavior in football matches: Do changes in alcohol sales policy increase violent acts?
Reference: Int J Drug Policy. 2023 Dec 2:123:104273. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104273. Online ahead of print.
Authors: Marke Geisy da Silva Dantas, Luciano Menezes Bezerra Sampaio, Thadeu Gasparetto
Summary: The violent behavior of football fans is constantly associated with their drinking habits. Aiming to reduce its impact, policy makers often ban the sales and consumption of alcohol beverages during matches. Nonetheless, there are few papers that empirically analyzed such relationship, and our paper aims to shed light on this question. Out dataset comprises 4,560 matches from the first and second tiers of the Brazilian League, where 245 exhibited at least one antisocial behavior from fans. Ordered logistic regressions are used as method. Our empirical findings evidence that the sales of alcoholic drinks do increase the likelihood of severe antisocial behavior. We also observed a higher likelihood of violent cases when the home club loses its match as well as during crowded matches. We conclude that the change in the alcohol police in Brazil did show a significant association with the likelihood of antisocial behavior among football fans. However, since the magnitude of such effect is small, further research is needed to examine the potential benefits of this policy change.
#8 Academic and healthcare efforts from Cessation to complete resumption of professional football tournaments during COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review
Reference: Heliyon. 2023 Nov 18;9(12):e22519. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22519. eCollection 2023 Dec.
Authors: Naushad Ahmad Khan, Ayman El-Menyar, Mohammad Asim, Sameer Abdurahiman, AbdulWahab Abubaker Al Musleh, Hassan Al-Thani
Download link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10686895/pdf/main.pdf
Summary: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus led to over 626 million infections and 6.5 million deaths worldwide and forced to cancel or postpone several sporting events. Effective control techniques are therefore urgently required to avoid COVID-19 spread at these local and global events. This narrative review addressed the healthcare and research efforts on the intersections between COVID-19 and major professional sports leagues worldwide, with special reference to the FIFA World Cup football 2022. This explained how the broader transformation of COVID-19 from being a potential risk to an urgent pandemic public health emergency, caused the world of Football to halt between February and March 2020. This review could add to the growing literature on the importance of scientific research in understanding the relationship between mass sports events and COVID-19 trajectory, concerning studies conducted globally and particularly for the recommencement of major professional football competitions. The information outlined in the article may help sports organizations understand the risks associated with sports and their settings and improve their preparedness for future events under unprecedented circumstances. There were tremendous global healthcare and research efforts to deal with this unprecedented pandemic. The successful FIFA World Cup football tournament was an indicator of the success of these efforts.
#9 The Relative Age Effect in the Two Professional Men's Football Leagues in Spain
Reference: J Sports Sci Med. 2023 Dec 1;22(4):700-706. doi: 10.52082/jssm.2023.700. eCollection 2023 Dec.
Authors: José M Yagüe, Alfonso Salguero, Antonio Villegas, Joaquín Sánchez-Molina, Olga Molinero
Download link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10690514/pdf/jssm-22-700.pdf
Summary: The age difference among individuals of the same group is known as Relative Age. Relative Age Effect refers to the consequences derived from it, such as delayed physical, cognitive and mental development of children born later in the year. The aim of this study was to observe the Relative Age Effect by analyzing players' dates of birth throughout three seasons in the two professional football competitions in Spain based on the game positions and the teams' classification at the end of the season. The sample was made up of players (n=4097) from both professional competitions (nLaLiga Santander=1864), and (nLaLiga Smartbank=2233). The data were collected from two public-access football statistics websites. The cut-off date was established on January 1, the year was divided into four quartiles (Q1: January-March, Q2: April-June, Q3: July-September and Q4: October-December). Results confirmed significant differences on dates of births' distribution (p<0.05) for the competitions - LaLiga Santander and LaLiga Smartbank - during three seasons, as well as for player position, with a larger effect observed for goalkeepers and defenders. Significant difference was also observed depending on classification. Results show a clear decreasing percentage of those born in quartile 4 in relation to those born in quartile 1, it can be concluded that the Relative Age Effect phenomenon is present in the Spanish professional football which may lead to an inappropriate talent selection technique in football, with recruitment oriented to the short term, to immediate results, and possibly caused by the early start of the player selection process.
#10 Self-reported knee function and activity level are reduced after primary or additional anterior cruciate ligament injury in female football players: a five-year follow-up study
Reference: Braz J Phys Ther. 2023 Nov 22;27(6):100573. doi: 10.1016/j.bjpt.2023.100573. Online ahead of print.
Authors: Anne Fältström, Martin Hägglund, Henrik Hedevik, Joanna Kvist
Download link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10703595/pdf/main.pdf
Summary: Playing football involves a high risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and these may affect knee function and activity level. The objective was to measure changes in self-reported knee function, activity level, and satisfaction with knee function and activity level in female football players with or without an ACL-reconstructed knee. Female football players, age 19.9 (SD 2.6) years, with either a primary ACL-reconstruction 1.6 (SD 0.7) years after ACL-reconstruction (n = 186) or no ACL injury (n = 113) were followed prospectively for five years. Self-reported data collected at baseline and follow-up included knee function (International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Knee Form [IKDC-SKF]), activity level (Tegner Activity Scale), and satisfaction with knee function (Likert scale 1=happy; 7=unhappy) and activity level (1-10 scale). Information on any new ACL injury during the follow-up period was collected. Players with ACL-reconstruction at baseline who either did (n = 56) or did not (n = 130) sustain an additional ACL injury, and players with no injury at baseline who remained injury free (n = 101) had a lower Tegner score at follow-up. Players with additional ACL injury had lower IKDC-SKF score (mean difference: -11.4, 95% CI: -16.0, -6.7), and satisfaction with activity level (mean difference: -1.5, 95% CI: -2.3, -0.7) at follow-up. Players with no additional ACL injury had higher satisfaction with knee function (mean difference: 0.6, 95% CI: 0.3, 0.9) at follow-up. Players with no ACL injury had lower satisfaction with activity level (mean difference: -0.7, 95% CI: -1.1, -0.3) at follow-up. Players with additional ACL injury had larger decreases in all variables measured compared to the two other groups. Primary, and even more so additional, ACL injuries decreased self-reported knee function, activity level, and satisfaction with knee function and activity level in female football players.
#11 Athletic bioimpedance-based equations underestimate fat free mass components in male elite soccer players: development and validation of new soccer-specific predictive models
Reference: J Transl Med. 2023 Dec 15;21(1):912. doi: 10.1186/s12967-023-04795-z.
Authors: Francesco Campa, Tindaro Bongiovanni, Alessio Rossi, Giuseppe Cerullo, Andrea Casolo, Giulia Martera, Athos Trecroci, Tatiana Moro, Antonio Paoli
Summary: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a rapid and user-friendly technique for assessing body composition in sports. Currently, no sport-specific predictive equations are available, and the utilization of generalized formulas can introduce systematic bias. The objectives of this study were as follows: (i) to develop and validate new predictive models for estimating fat-free mass (FFM) components in male elite soccer players; (ii) to evaluate the accuracy of existing predictive equations. A total of 102 male elite soccer players (mean age 24.7 ± 5.7 years), participating in the Italian first league, underwent assessments during the first half of the in-season period and were randomly divided into development and validation groups. Bioelectrical resistance (R) and reactance (Xc), representing the bioimpedance components, were measured using a foot-to-hand BIA device at a single frequency of 50 kHz. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was employed to acquire reference data for FFM, lean soft tissue (LST), and appendicular lean soft tissue (ALST). The validation of the newly developed predictive equations was conducted through regression analysis, Bland-Altman tests, and the area under the curves (AUC) of regression receiver operating characteristic (RROC) curves. Developed models were: FFM = - 7.729 + (body mass × 0.686) + (stature2/R × 0.227) + (Xc × 0.086) + (age × 0.058), R2 = 0.97, Standard error of estimation (SEE) = 1.0 kg; LST = - 8.929 + (body mass × 0.635) + (stature2/R × 0.244) + (Xc × 0.093) + (age × 0.048), R2 = 0.96, SEE = 0.9 kg; ALST = - 24.068 + (body mass × 0.347) + (stature2/R × 0.308) + (Xc × 0.152), R2 = 0.88, SEE = 1.4 kg. Train-test validation, performed on the validation group, revealed that generalized formulas for athletes underestimated all the predicted FFM components (p < 0.01), while the new predictive models showed no mean bias (p > 0.05), with R2 values ranging from 0.83 to 0.91, and no trend (p > 0.05). The AUC scores of the RROC curves indicated an accuracy of 0.92, 0.92, and 0.74 for FFM, LST, and ALST, respectively. The utilization of generalized predictive equations leads to an underestimation of FFM and ALST in elite soccer players. The newly developed soccer-specific formulas enable valid estimations of body composition while preserving the portability of a field-based method.
#12 Advanced Force Coordination of Lower Extremities During Visuomotor Control Task in Soccer Players
Reference: Res Q Exerc Sport. 2023 Dec 15:1-7. doi: 10.1080/02701367.2023.2283034. Online ahead of print.
Authors: Tae Lee Lee, Do-Kyung Ko, Nyeonju Kang
Summary: This study is aimed to determine specific bilateral lower extremity motor performances and coordination patterns in soccer players with healthy controls using the bilateral force control paradigm. We hypothesized that soccer players would show more advanced bilateral force control performances than untrained controls. Participants were 13 university soccer players and 13 healthy controls. Each group performed bilateral ankle dorsiflexion force control tasks across two vision conditions (i.e., vision and no-vision) and two targeted force levels (i.e., 10% and 40% maximum voluntary contraction). We calculated force accuracy, variability, and symmetry to assess force control performances. To estimate bilateral force coordination, we calculated Pearson's correlation coefficients between feet-within a single trial and considered uncontrolled manifold variables across multiple trials. In the no-vision condition, we performed secondary analyses for initial force control patters after removal of visual feedback. There were no significant group differences in bilateral force accuracy and variability but, compared to the control group, soccer players showed higher force symmetry between left and right ankle dorsiflexion forces. For force coordination between feet, soccer players revealed more negative values of the correlation coefficient and greater good variability from the uncontrolled manifold analysis than those for the control group. The secondary analysis revealed no significant group differences in the time until force drift and amount of force adjustments. Soccer players have more compensatory and flexible interlimb force coordination strategies between feet.
