Eccentric knee flexor strength profiles of 341 elite male academy and senior Gaelic football players: Do body mass and previous hamstring injury impact performance?

Abstract Objective Report eccentric knee flexor strength values of elite Gaelic football players from underage to adult level whilst examining the influence of body mass and previous hamstring injury. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Team's training facility. Participants Elite Gaelic football players (n = 341) from under 14 years to senior age-grades were recruited from twelve teams. Main outcome measures Absolute (N) and relative (N·kg −1 ) eccentric hamstring strength as well as corresponding between-limb imbalances (%) were calculated for all players. Results Mean maximum force was 329.4N (95% CI 319.5–340.2) per limb. No statistically significant differences were observed in relative force values (4.4 N ·kg −1 , 95% CI 4.2–4.5) between age-groups. Body mass had moderate-to-large and weak associations with maximum force in youth (r = 0.597) and adult (r =0 .159) players, respectively. Overall 40% (95 CI 31.4–48.7) presented with a maximum strength between-limb imbalance >10%. Players with a hamstring injury had greater relative maximum force (9.3%, 95% CI 7.0–11.8; p > 0.05) and a 28% (95% CI 10.0–38.0) higher prevalence of between-limb imbalances ≥15% compared to their uninjured counterparts. Conclusions Overlapping strength profiles across age-groups, combined with greater strength in previously injured players, suggests difficulties for establishing cut-off thresholds associated with hamstring injury risk.