For this week’s research assessment, I decided I wanted to look into an analysis of the FIFA 11+ warm up as I have discussed its benefits in injury prevention flaws and limitations many times with Rachel. I wanted to see a study done from an outside source so that I could better formulate an opinion on it and its effectiveness.
My main reason for wanting to learn more about the FIFA 11+ is that I know I want to do something involving injury prevention for my final product. I have already learned that the FIFA 11+ works best in young athletes and lacks a sufficient amount of ACL prevention for my taste, but this study opened by eyes a bit more. Sometimes I have to take a step back and remind myself that the ACL is not the only injury that an athlete can have. This study tested many athletes from many different countries. Not only did they look at female soccer players, but they looked at male soccer players too. They even looked at athletes from Germany, Brazil, and Japan and took it as far as trying the FIFA 11+ as injury prevention for other sports like basketball. And what did all these groups have in common? The FIFA 11+ worked to help them with injury prevention and increased performance success to some degree. Some groups (the women) benefitted more, but overall every group of athletes who tried the injury prevention warm up saw benefits from it. Along with this, it is seen to be more effective in children (especially ages 13-19, where they are most susceptible to injury). The study, after analyzing combined reports from these groups, they overall found significantly better neuromuscular control (quicker stabilisation time of lower extremity and core), improved functional balance, enhanced knee strength ratios, as well as superior static/dynamic balance and agility skills, core and hip musculature activation, and therefore improve neuromuscular control, and enhanced performance (better hamstring/quadriceps strength ratios, improved jumping and agility skills) (Bizzini and Dovak 4).
The study also noted that, while the FIFA 11+ warm up has obvious benefits that are backed up with tests and evidence, the biggest challenge in the face of achieving widespread use of it is implementation. I found this to be very strange. You would think that, because it is so obviously beneficial, everybody would be scrambling to have their athletes use it, right? What is there to not love about successful injury prevention? And yet, it is hardly openly endorsed despite being utilized by countries that are big on soccer such as the aforementioned Germany, Brazil, and Japan. However, we are seeing far more implementation than in past years, so according to this trend we will see an increase in the implementation of injury prevention programs, just slow and steady.
The research I conducted today by looking at this study gave me an idea. The soccer players at Frisco High School for the women’s tem are very unhappy with their warm up. Perhaps I could take the FIFA 11+ warmup, tweak it to my liking of injury prevention, and try and get it implemented instead? I am currently trying to figure out how I could implement this into my final project, but for now I will stick to learning about it more and developing a better opinion by continuing to research the FIFA 11+ warm up.
I still have yet to make up my mind on how I feel about the FIFA 11+. I think I like the concept, as I’m a huge fan of injury prevention, but I just can’t let go of how little it does for ACL prevention specifically. I look forward to learning more and adapting it to my own standards and hopefully creating something helpful with it.