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Sports medicine and sports science contributions to football
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 17 (2014) 249
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jsams
Editorial
Sports medicine and sports science contributions to football
The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is now only a month away. It would be a safe bet that many of our readers are looking forward to that pinnacle event in the football world with great excitement. Some, depending on their location in the world, are preparing for some late nights and early mornings to watch the matches live, and those lucky few who are really keen are probably finalising travel arrangements to actually see the matches for themselves in Brazil. I unfortunately, am not in this latter category, and will have to settle for a comfortable lounge, some television viewing at odd hours, and the personal commentary from my football-mad son. Having grown up without fully understanding the finer details of the round ball game (or the “world game” as it is often referred to) it has only been in the last few years that I have begun to understand the skill, beauty, and physical and mental requirements of this game (thanks again to my son for educating me on this). It is these collective attributes that makes for the excitement and often uncertainty that one can witness in a football match – funny isn’t it that even a 0–0 draw can result from a game full of excitement, drama, angst, drama, skill, more drama, and the odd good piece of acting. Outside of the shear spectacle of a good game of football, it is apparent to me that it is a game that lends itself to vast input from sports medicine and sports science. A simple database search exposes a vast literature addressing a wide variety of aspects of football performance, injury, and recovery. Of even greater value is that this research is stemming from all corners of the globe, allowing varied approaches to be applied and learnt from. At the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, we have published extensive football research from regions including Europe, Australasia, the Middle East, North America, and South America. I would like to highlight some of the football research that we have published in recent years and encourage you to refer to these research findings to more fully understand the importance of sports medicine and sports science to football. For example, Akenhead et al.1 examined the distances covered at different accelerations and decelerations during professional competitive football games, and reported that acceleration and deceleration capability are acutely compromised during match play, with implications for transient fatigue. In another recent study Lovell et al.2 examined work-rate of football players immediately after a passive half-time interval. They demonstrated a markedly lower work-rate in the first five minutes after such a passive half-time break. Vescovi3 focussed on female football players and investigated speed characteristics in those drafted or not drafted in a professional setting. They concluded that sprint speed was able to differentiate those
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2014.03.009 1440-2440/© 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Sports Medicine Australia.
in the two groups, with those in the drafted group able to achieve higher speeds. Football has also been the focus on studies of carbohydrate supplementation. Russell et al.4 showed that carbohydrate supplementation attenuated decrements in shooting performance by professional academy players during simulated football matchplay. In the area of injury Eirale et al.5 reported on a prospective study of injury in football in first division football clubs in Qatar. They found relatively high rates of overuse injury and a high recurrence rate of injury to the thigh. Wilson et al.6 examined the cardiovascular risk factors of professional football players of WestAsian and Black African descent. Despite being matched for activity levels, the players of West-Asian descent had a greater number of cardiovascular risk markers than their Black African counterparts. The last paper I will highlight is that by Weiler et al.7 who researched changes in markers of bone resorption and bone formation during the off-season of an English Football Association Championship club. It was found that the off-season (8 weeks) resulted in an increase in bone resorption and a decrease in bone formation markers. Enjoy the research that has been published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport on football, but equally (if not more so) enjoy the achievements and spectacle of the upcoming FIFA World Cup. References 1. Akenhead R, Hayes PR, Thompson KG et al. Diminutions of acceleration and deceleration output during professional football match play. J Sci Med Sport 2013; 16:556–561. 2. Lovell R, Barrett S, Portas M et al. Re-examination of the post half-time reduction in soccer work-rate. J Sci Med Sport 2013; 16:250–254. 3. Vescovi JD. Sprint speed characteristics of high-level American female soccer players: female athletes in motion (FAiM) study. J Sci Med Sport 2012; 15:474–478. 4. Russell M, Benton D, Kingsley M. Influence of carbohydrate supplementation on skill performance during a soccer match simulation. J Sci Med Sport 2012; 15:348–354. 5. Eriale C, Farooq A, Smiley FA et al. Epidemiology of football injuries in Asia: a prospective study in Qatar. J Sci Med Sport 2013; 16:113–117. 6. Wilson MG, Hamilton B, Sandridge AL et al. Differences in markers of cardiovascular disease between professional football players of West-Asian and Black African descent. J Sci Med Sport 2012; 15:266–271. 7. Weiler R, Keen R, Wolman R. Changes in bone turnover markers during the close season in elite football (soccer) players. J Sci Med Sport 2012; 15:255–258.
Gregory S. Kolt, PhD Editor-in-Chief E-mail address: [email protected]
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jsams
Editorial
Sports medicine and sports science contributions to football
The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is now only a month away. It would be a safe bet that many of our readers are looking forward to that pinnacle event in the football world with great excitement. Some, depending on their location in the world, are preparing for some late nights and early mornings to watch the matches live, and those lucky few who are really keen are probably finalising travel arrangements to actually see the matches for themselves in Brazil. I unfortunately, am not in this latter category, and will have to settle for a comfortable lounge, some television viewing at odd hours, and the personal commentary from my football-mad son. Having grown up without fully understanding the finer details of the round ball game (or the “world game” as it is often referred to) it has only been in the last few years that I have begun to understand the skill, beauty, and physical and mental requirements of this game (thanks again to my son for educating me on this). It is these collective attributes that makes for the excitement and often uncertainty that one can witness in a football match – funny isn’t it that even a 0–0 draw can result from a game full of excitement, drama, angst, drama, skill, more drama, and the odd good piece of acting. Outside of the shear spectacle of a good game of football, it is apparent to me that it is a game that lends itself to vast input from sports medicine and sports science. A simple database search exposes a vast literature addressing a wide variety of aspects of football performance, injury, and recovery. Of even greater value is that this research is stemming from all corners of the globe, allowing varied approaches to be applied and learnt from. At the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, we have published extensive football research from regions including Europe, Australasia, the Middle East, North America, and South America. I would like to highlight some of the football research that we have published in recent years and encourage you to refer to these research findings to more fully understand the importance of sports medicine and sports science to football. For example, Akenhead et al.1 examined the distances covered at different accelerations and decelerations during professional competitive football games, and reported that acceleration and deceleration capability are acutely compromised during match play, with implications for transient fatigue. In another recent study Lovell et al.2 examined work-rate of football players immediately after a passive half-time interval. They demonstrated a markedly lower work-rate in the first five minutes after such a passive half-time break. Vescovi3 focussed on female football players and investigated speed characteristics in those drafted or not drafted in a professional setting. They concluded that sprint speed was able to differentiate those
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2014.03.009 1440-2440/© 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Sports Medicine Australia.
in the two groups, with those in the drafted group able to achieve higher speeds. Football has also been the focus on studies of carbohydrate supplementation. Russell et al.4 showed that carbohydrate supplementation attenuated decrements in shooting performance by professional academy players during simulated football matchplay. In the area of injury Eirale et al.5 reported on a prospective study of injury in football in first division football clubs in Qatar. They found relatively high rates of overuse injury and a high recurrence rate of injury to the thigh. Wilson et al.6 examined the cardiovascular risk factors of professional football players of WestAsian and Black African descent. Despite being matched for activity levels, the players of West-Asian descent had a greater number of cardiovascular risk markers than their Black African counterparts. The last paper I will highlight is that by Weiler et al.7 who researched changes in markers of bone resorption and bone formation during the off-season of an English Football Association Championship club. It was found that the off-season (8 weeks) resulted in an increase in bone resorption and a decrease in bone formation markers. Enjoy the research that has been published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport on football, but equally (if not more so) enjoy the achievements and spectacle of the upcoming FIFA World Cup. References 1. Akenhead R, Hayes PR, Thompson KG et al. Diminutions of acceleration and deceleration output during professional football match play. J Sci Med Sport 2013; 16:556–561. 2. Lovell R, Barrett S, Portas M et al. Re-examination of the post half-time reduction in soccer work-rate. J Sci Med Sport 2013; 16:250–254. 3. Vescovi JD. Sprint speed characteristics of high-level American female soccer players: female athletes in motion (FAiM) study. J Sci Med Sport 2012; 15:474–478. 4. Russell M, Benton D, Kingsley M. Influence of carbohydrate supplementation on skill performance during a soccer match simulation. J Sci Med Sport 2012; 15:348–354. 5. Eriale C, Farooq A, Smiley FA et al. Epidemiology of football injuries in Asia: a prospective study in Qatar. J Sci Med Sport 2013; 16:113–117. 6. Wilson MG, Hamilton B, Sandridge AL et al. Differences in markers of cardiovascular disease between professional football players of West-Asian and Black African descent. J Sci Med Sport 2012; 15:266–271. 7. Weiler R, Keen R, Wolman R. Changes in bone turnover markers during the close season in elite football (soccer) players. J Sci Med Sport 2012; 15:255–258.
Gregory S. Kolt, PhD Editor-in-Chief E-mail address: [email protected]