Effects of 12 Weeks of Selected Injury Prevention Training on Ankle Intrinsic Risk Factors in Professional Male Soccer Players

Ankle sprain injury is the most common injury among soccer players. Previous studies have shown that injury prevention exercises generally reduce injuries. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of 12 weeks of selected injury prevention training on the risk factors of the internal ankle foot in professional male footballers.

A total of 50 soccer players under the age of 21 who were present in the pre-season trainings of 1396-1396 were selected. Participants were randomly divided into two groups of 25 (experimental and control). In the preliminary test, in order to check the static test, the dynamic balance of the Y test, to measure the ankle range, goniometer, and to measure height jump (Sargent), meter were used. The experimental group performed their training protocol for 12 weeks (every 3 weeks and 30 minutes each session), but the control group performed only their usual exercises. After 12 weeks, all variables were measured. Independent t-test was used for intra-group comparisons and independent t-test was run to test the inter-group comparisons (P> 0.05).

The results showed that the experimental group had the highest increase in static balance, dynamic balance, and height jump (P> 0.05); although improvement was observed in the ankle motion range, it was not statistically significant (P <0.05).

According to the results, it is concluded that selected injury prevention exercises improve static equilibrium, dynamic equilibrium, and high jump levels for soccer players, so it is recommended that these exercises be included in their training programs.