A Comparison of Functional Movement Abilities of Elite Male Soccer and Handball Players
Galip Bilen Kürklü1
, Ahmet Bayrak2, Melda Pelin Yargıç1, Necmiye Ün Yıldırım3
1Sports Medicine Department, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey
2Vocational School of Health Sciences, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey
3Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara, Turkey
Keywords: Sports injuries, soccer, handball
Abstract
Introduction: Both handball and soccer athletes are under high risk of injury, therefore evaluations that assist injury prevention are of high importance. Functional Movement Screening (FMS™) is a test tool used for evaluating athletes’ movement capacity and injury risk. The purpose of this study is to measure and compare the functional movement capacities and asymmetries in professional soccer and handball players.
Methods: This study compared FMS™ scores of 22 elite male soccer players to 24 elite male handball players. FMS™ consists of an evaluation of seven basic movements, scored from 0 to 3.
Results: Mean total FMS™ scores were 15.65±1.69 and 16.75 ± 1.87 for handball and soccer players, respectively. After analyzing the sub-parameters, handball players displayed more asymmetry in shoulder mobility test as well as in in-line lunge (p<0.05).
Conclusions: With lower overall FMS™ scores and higher asymmetry scores, handball players may be under higher risk of injury compared to soccer players.
Cite this article as: Kurklu GB, Bayrak A, Yargic MP et al. A comparison of functional movement abilities of elite male soccer and handball players. Turk J Sports Med. 2019;54(3):169-74.
We would like to thank all the athletes who participated in this research and their team staff.
