The relationships between fundamental movement patterns, spike jump technique, and overuse pain in collegiate volleyball players

• Main Author: Harris, Mischa
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42142

Despite an exceptionally high prevalence of overuse injury among elite volleyball players, very little is known about the aetiology of these conditions. Fundamental movement patterns have been found to be predictive of serious acute athletic injury, however the relationship between fundamental movement patterns and overuse injury has yet to be determined. Sport-specific jumping biomechanics have been shown to play an additional role in the development of overuse injuries in sport, and it is likely that combining fundamental and sport-specific movement assessment may possess greater predictive power than either alone. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate how volleyball-related overuse injuries are related to fundamental movement patterns and volleyball spike jump technique. We hypothesized that volleyball players with a history of overuse injury would exhibit more dysfunctional fundamental and sport-specific movement than players without a history of injury. Fifty-seven male and female collegiate volleyball players took part in Functional Movement Screen testing, and athletes free of lower body pain (n=31) took part in a 2-dimensional kinematic analysis of spike jump technique using Dartfish video analysis software. Volleyball players with a history of overuse low back injury had significantly lower Active Straight Leg Raise scores compared to healthy players (p=0.011). Various aspects of hip mechanics during the spike jump were significantly related to a history of shoulder, low back, and knee pain (p<0.01), and the Shoulder Mobility test was significantly correlated to 2 aspects of hip mechanics during the spike jump for females (R² = 0.560, p<0.01). Additionally, males with a history of overuse pain tended to jump 14 cm higher than their healthy teammates (p<0.01). Both fundamental and sport-specific hip mechanics appear to have a link to overuse injuries among collegiate volleyball players.