Flexibility in Spanish Elite Inline Hockey Players: Profile, Sex, Tightness and Asymmetry

Antonio Cejudo, Víctor Jesús Moreno-Alcaraz, Riccardo Izzo, Francisco Javier Robles-Palazón, Pilar Sainz de Baranda and Fernando Santonja-Medina
Additional contact information
Antonio Cejudo: Department of Physical Activity and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Víctor Jesús Moreno-Alcaraz: Department of Physical Activity and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Riccardo Izzo: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari, Scuola di Scienze Motorie, Università degli Studi, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Francisco Javier Robles-Palazón: Department of Physical Activity and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Pilar Sainz de Baranda: Department of Physical Activity and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Fernando Santonja-Medina: Sports and Musculoskeletal System Research Group (RAQUIS), University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: Limited ranges of motion (ROM) have been considered as a relevant risk factor for team sports injuries. The main purposes of the current study were to describe the lower extremity ROM profile, muscular tightness and asymmetries in elite inline hockey players and to examine sex-related differences. Twenty professional inline hockey players from 2 Spanish National Teams (male and female) were measured of passive hip extension [HE], hip adduction with hip flexed 90° [HAD-HF], hip flexion with the knee flexed [HF-KF] and extended [HF-KE], hip abduction with the hip neutral [HAB] and hip flexed 90° [HAB-HF], hip external [HER] and internal [HIR] rotation, knee flexion [KF], ankle dorsiflexion with the knee flexed [ADF-KF] and extended [ADF-KE] ROMs of the dominant and non-dominant leg ROMs were taken. A paired t -test was carried out to assess asymmetries. ROM values were classified as “normal versus tightness”, and “normal versus asymmetry” according to the proposed reference values. The effect size for each variable was analyzed. Male team exhibited asymmetry in HF-KF (133.2° dominant vs. 129.8° non-dominant; p = 0.042; d = 0.7243 [moderate effect sizes]) and female team in ADF-KF (38.8° dominant vs. 41.0 non-dominant; p = 0.001; d = 0.6 [moderate effect sizes]) and HAB ROM (41.2° dominant vs. 38.8 non-dominant; p = 0.005; d = 1.1767 [moderate effect sizes]). Male players reported asymmetry in HAD-HF (n = 5), HER (n = 4) and HE (n = 3), whereas female players presented asymmetries in HER (n = 4), HE (n = 3) and KF (n = 2). Overall, 20–100% of all participants showed limited KF, HF_KE, HIR, HE, ADF_KF, HAD-HF, HF-KF, ADF_KE, HTR and HER ROM. The results of this study reinforce the requirement of prescribing exercises aimed at improving hip, knee and ankle ROM within everyday inline hockey practices. In addition, as some asymmetries were found, unilateral flexibility training should be considered where appropriate.

Keywords: range of motion; lower limb; stretching; roller hockey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/9/3295/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/9/3295/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:9:p:3295-:d:355696

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().