Associations Between Body Composition, Balance, And Vertical Jump Testing And Injury In Football Athletes

Although lower extremity (LE) force, balance and body composition have been suggested as risk factors for injury, prior research has failed to identify the independence of these factors and we are aware of no prior research in American football athletes. PURPOSE: Therefore, this study evaluated the relationship between dynamic balance, LE force, and body composition and all injuries within collegiate football athletes. METHODS: Division 1 male collegiate football athletes (122) underwent evaluation of balance via anterior reach side-to-side difference from the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT), peak vertical ground reaction force from a countermovement vertical jump (CMJ), and total body percent lean mass (LM) via densitometry for 2 years (total evaluations = 166). Injuries were recorded by team athletic trainers with acute time loss injuries included in this analysis. Pearson correlations between the 3 covariates were examined. Separate linear mixed effects models (LMEs) evaluated effects of performance metrics on different injury types; LE, upper extremity (UE) and trunk. RESULTS: Nine athletes experienced more than 1 injury type. There was a significant positive correlation between LM and CMJ (r = 0.59, p < 0.001) while SEBT was not correlated with either LM (r = -0.008, p = 0.92) or CMJ (r = -0.011, p = 0.89). There were no statistically significant relationships between the performance predictors and any injury, although there was some suggestion that asymmetry in SEBT was associated with an increased risk of UE injury (Table1). CONCLUSIONS: Among division one male collegiate football athletes, LM and CMJ were not significant predictors of LE, UE, or trunk injuries. Although it did not reach statistical significance, pre-season balance may help predict the incidence of in-season UE injury.