Effects of Different Exercise Programs on Injury Risk and Sports Performance in Adolescent Basketball Players

Overview

Basketball is a team sport where aerobic and anaerobic performance is important. Knowing how to reduce common injuries and risk is important when designing a warm-up exercise program for basketball. Various warm-up programs, including neuromuscular training, are thought to reduce the incidence of lower extremity injuries and improve athletic performance in athletes. There are several neuromuscular training programs designed to improve joint position sense, increase joint stability, develop protective joint reflexes, and ultimately prevent lower extremity injuries. In the literature, there is a need for studies comparing the effects of various warm-up programs applied to adolescent licensed basketball players on injury risks and basketball-specific sportive performance parameters. Therefore, the aim of the study is to examine the effects of different exercise programs on injury risk and sportive performance in adolescent basketball players.

Basketball is a team sport where aerobic and anaerobic performance is important. Knowing how to reduce common injuries and risk is important when designing a basketball training program. It has been stated that injuries in basketball are injuries caused by muscle imbalances. Various warm-up programs, including neuromuscular training, have been shown to reduce the incidence of lower extremity injuries in athletes. Various neuromuscular training programs designed to improve joint position sense, increase joint stability, develop protective joint reflexes, and ultimately prevent lower extremity injuries have been explored. According to Zazulak et al, a lack of neuromuscular control of body core muscles can lead to uncontrolled trunk displacement during movement. Core strength is very important for many sports, including basketball, athletics, football, and jumping, to maintain correct posture and to perform some daily activities such as walking, climbing stairs, and stepping. Strong core stability helps in transferring high muscle strength. Core muscle function can affect structures from the waist to the ankle, and deficiencies in core muscle capacity can increase the risk of lower extremity injury. In a study by Sannicandro et al in 2020, in which they examined the effect of core stability exercises added to the warm-up program in prepubertal basketball players on sprint and jump performances, they showed that there was an improvement in jump and sprint performances as a result of training given for 4 weeks and 2 sessions per week. Benis et al. In 2017, in a study examining the effects of neuromuscular training with bodyweight on Y-balance test (YBT) performances in elite female basketball players; It was observed that there was an improvement in YBT scores after the 8-week program. The program included a sport-specific neuromuscular warm-up designed to improve athletic performance and prevent lower extremity injuries. Based on these findings, a neuromuscular training program called the "Italian Basketball Injury Prevention Program" was developed. Bonato, Benis et al. In the study where they examined the effects of a neuromuscular training program, which included lower extremity strength, agility, jumping, and general exercises with the ball, which were included in the routine warm-up program in 2017, on the prevention of lower extremity injuries in elite female basketball players during the regular season; It has been stated that the incidence of lower extremity injuries has decreased. Functional movement definition is also very important for athletes. Functional movement is the ability to generate and maintain a balance between mobility and stability along the kinetic chain while performing basic movement patterns with accuracy and efficiency. Performance-based mobility-competence-based tests have been established in recent years to identify deficits in neuromuscular status associated with increased risk of injury. In this context, it has been seen that the most commonly used tests in the literature are Functional Movement Screen (FMS), Y balance test (YBT), trunk stabilization tests, and jump tests. When investigators look at the literature, there is a need to investigate various warm-up programs that reduce the risk of injury in adolescent licensed basketball players and investigate their effects on explosive strength, speed, agility, and balance parameters, which are essential for basketball. In this study, in addition to the routine warm-up program consisting of programs in which muscle groups are dynamically stretched, one group only included core stabilization exercises; The other group will be given programs that include exercises to be done with the ball and neuromuscular warm-up exercises with body weight.