From the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham.
the Department of Orthopaedics, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.
South Med J. 2024 Apr;117(4):214-219. doi: 10.14423/SMJ.0000000000001674.
Hamstring strain injuries (HSI) are common among football and soccer athletes. Eccentric strength imbalance is considered a contributing factor for HSI. There is, however, a paucity of data on hamstring imbalances of soccer and American football athletes as they age and advance in skill level. High school athletes will display greater interlimb discrepancies compared with collegiate and professional athletes. In addition, soccer athletes will exhibit greater hamstring asymmetry than American football athletes.
Hamstring testing was performed on soccer and American football athletes using the NordBord Hamstring Testing System (Vald Performance, Albion, Australia). Age, sex, weight, sport specialization, and sport level were recorded. Maximum hamstring forces (N), torque (N · m), and work (N · s) were measured. Hamstring imbalance (%) was calculated by dividing the absolute value of the difference in leg forces divided by their sum. One-way analysis of variance and independent sample tests compared measurements between athlete groups.
A total of 631 athletes completed measurements, including 88 high school male soccer, 25 college male soccer, 23 professional male soccer, 83 high school female soccer, 28 college female soccer, 288 high school football, and 96 college football athletes. High school soccer players displayed significantly greater imbalances for torque ( = 0.03) and work ( < 0.01) than football athletes. Imbalances for maximum force ( = 0.035), torque ( = 0.018), and work ( = 0.033) were significantly higher for male soccer athletes in high school compared with college- and professional-level athletes. Female high school soccer players had significantly higher imbalance in torque ( = 0.045) and work ( = 0.001) compared with female collegiate soccer players. Football athletes did not experience significant changes in force imbalances between skill levels.
High school soccer athletes exhibit greater hamstring imbalances than football athletes. Higher levels of play in soccer, for both male and female athletes, correlate with less hamstring asymmetry.
腘绳肌拉伤（HSI）在足球和足球运动员中很常见。离心强度失衡被认为是 HSI 的一个促成因素。然而，随着年龄的增长和技能水平的提高，关于足球和美式足球运动员的腘绳肌失衡的数据很少。高中生与大学生和职业运动员相比，会表现出更大的肢体差异。此外，足球运动员的腘绳肌不对称性大于美式足球运动员。
使用 NordBord 腘绳肌测试系统（Vald Performance，Albion，澳大利亚）对足球和美式足球运动员进行腘绳肌测试。记录年龄、性别、体重、专项运动和运动水平。测量最大腘绳肌力（N）、扭矩（N·m）和功（N·s）。通过将腿力的绝对值除以它们的和来计算腘绳肌失衡（%）。单向方差分析和独立样本 t 检验比较了运动员组之间的测量值。
共有 631 名运动员完成了测量，包括 88 名高中男足球运动员、25 名大学男足球运动员、23 名职业男足球运动员、83 名高中女足球运动员、28 名大学女足球运动员、288 名高中橄榄球运动员和 96 名大学橄榄球运动员。与橄榄球运动员相比，高中足球运动员的扭矩（=0.03）和功（<0.01）失衡明显更大。与大学和职业水平的运动员相比，高中男足球运动员的最大力（=0.035）、扭矩（=0.018）和功（=0.033）失衡明显更高。与女大学生足球运动员相比，高中女足运动员的扭矩（=0.045）和功（=0.001）失衡明显更高。足球运动员在技能水平之间的力量失衡没有明显变化。
高中足球运动员的腘绳肌失衡大于橄榄球运动员。对于男性和女性运动员来说，足球运动水平越高，腘绳肌的不对称性就越低。
