Physical preparation and return to sport of the football player with a tibia-fibula fracture: applying the ‘control-chaos continuum’

Contact in elite football can result in severe injury such as traumatic fracture. Limited information exists regarding the rehabilitation and return to sport (RTS) of these injuries especially in elite football. We outline the RTS of an elite English Premier League footballer following a tibia-fibula fracture including gym-based physical preparation and the use of ‘control-chaos continuum’ as a framework for on-pitch sport-specific conditioning, development of technical skills while returning the player to pre-injury chronic running loads considering the qualitative nature of movement in competition. Strength and power diagnostics were used to back up clinical reasoning and decision-making throughout rehabilitation and the RTS process. The player returned to full team training after 7.5 months, completed 90 min match-play after 9 months and remains injury-free 11 months post-RTS.

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Soccer Match Play as an Important Component of the Power-Training Stimulus in Premier League Players

International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance ◽

10.1123/ijspp.2016-0412 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 665-667 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Ryland Morgans ◽

Rocco Di Michele ◽

Barry Drust

Keyword(s):

Training Stimulus ◽

Match Play ◽

Training Requirements ◽

Dominant Component ◽

Premier League ◽

Soccer Team ◽

Playing Time ◽

English Premier League ◽

Positive Effect ◽

Average Individual

Purpose: Competitive match play is a dominant component of the physical load completed by soccer players in a training microcycle. Characterizing the temporal disruption in homeostasis that follows exercise may provide some insight on the potential for match play to elicit an adaptive response. Methods: Countermovement-jump (CMJ) performance was characterized 3 d postmatch for 15 outfield players from an English Premier League soccer team (age 25.8 ± 4.1 y, stature 1.78 ± 0.08 m, body mass: 71.7 ± 9.1 kg) across a season. These players were classified as either starters (n = 9) or nonstarters (n = 6), according to their average individual playing time (more or less than 60 min/match). Linear mixed models were used to investigate the influence of indicators of match activity (total distance covered [TD] and high-intensity running distance [HI]) on CMJ height and peak power (PP). Results: Starting players covered much greater TD (ES = 1.5) and HI (ES = 1.4) than nonstarters. Furthermore, there was a possible positive effect of HI on CMJ height and PP. This relationship suggests that an additional 0.6 km of HI would increase CMJ height and PP by slightly more than the smallest-worthwhile-change values of 0.6 cm and 1.0 W/kg, respectively. This small yet practically relevant increase in performance may suggest that match play, more specifically the intense activities that are associated with the match, provides a physiological stimulus for neuromuscular adaptation. Conclusions: These data may have implications for the preparation of soccer squads, especially the training requirements of starting and nonstarting players.

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Physical preparation and return to performance of an elite female football player following ACL reconstruction: a journey to the FIFA Women’s World Cup

BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine ◽

10.1136/bmjsem-2020-000843 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. e000843

Author(s):

Matt Taberner ◽

Nicol van Dyk ◽

Tom Allen ◽

Neil Jain ◽

Chris Richter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acl Reconstruction ◽

Injury Risk ◽

Female Athletes ◽

Knee Injuries ◽

Return To Sport ◽

Football Player ◽

Extensive Literature ◽

World Cup ◽

Acl Injuries ◽

Physical Preparation

ACL injuries are among the most severe knee injuries in elite sport, with a high injury burden and re-injury risk. Despite extensive literature on the injury and the higher incidence of injury and re-injury in female athletes, there is limited evidence on the return to sport (RTS) of elite female football players following ACL reconstruction (ACLR). RTS is best viewed on a continuum aligning the recovery and rehabilitation process with the ultimate aim — a return to performance (RTPerf). We outline the RTS and RTPerf of an elite female football player following ACLR and her journey to the FIFA Women’s World Cup, including the gym-based physical preparation and the on-pitch/sports-specific reconditioning. We used the ‘control–chaos continuum’ as a framework for RTS, guiding a return above pre-injury training load demands while considering the qualitative nature of movement in competition. We then implemented the ‘RTPerf pathway’ to facilitate a return to team training, competitive match play and a RTPerf. Objective information, clinical reasoning and shared decision-making contributed to this process and helped the player to reach her goal of representing her country at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

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Non-operative management of a complete anterior cruciate ligament injury in an English Premier League football player with return to play in less than 8 weeks: applying common sense in the absence of evidence

BMJ Case Reports ◽

10.1136/bcr-2014-208012 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 (apr26 1) ◽

pp. bcr2014208012-bcr2014208012 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

R. Weiler ◽

M. Monte-Colombo ◽

A. Mitchell ◽

F. Haddad

Keyword(s):

Common Sense ◽

Cruciate Ligament ◽

Operative Management ◽

Football Player ◽

Return To Play ◽

Ligament Injury ◽

Premier League ◽

Anterior Cruciate ◽

Non Operative Management ◽

English Premier League

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Reading Carlos Tevez: Football, Geography, and Contested Identities in Manchester

International Journal of Sport Communication ◽

10.1123/ijsc.3.3.322 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 322-335 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Nicholas Wise ◽

John Harris

Keyword(s):

Football Player ◽

Conceptual Approach ◽

Premier League ◽

Imaginative Geographies ◽

Manchester City ◽

The City ◽

English Premier League ◽

Interesting Identity ◽

Newspaper Articles

Carlos Tevez is an Argentinean football player who plays for Manchester City in the English Premier League. Having previously played for City’s fierce local rivals, Manchester United, he has forged an interesting identity in the city. This study analyzes the various meanings allotted to him, with emphasis on his presence surrounding the construction of alternative (re)presentations of Argentina in the local (Manchester) and national (England) media. A host of newspaper articles surrounding his transfer to Manchester City and the first derby match of the season was used as the base for this study. The conceptual approach incorporates imaginative geographies of sport, relating to how individuals create contested identities of place.

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