Several injury prevention programmes have been designed with the aim of preventing and reducing the number and severity of football-related injuries in adolescent players, such as the FIFA 11+, knee injury prevention program and preventing injury and enhancing performance program ( 11– 14). Therefore, it would appear important to implement effective injury prevention programmes early to counter potential injury-related risks. While some studies have explored position-related differences in injury incidence ( 10), it should be noted that there may be differing movement demands based on football position however, no studies have directly explored this within youth football. In particular, a recent epidemiological study of young children (7–12 years of age) reported injury incidence rates of 0.61 per 1,000 h of exposure and an increase in the incidence rate with age ( 9). Epidemiology studies have reported that the frequency and severity of injuries among youth football players is striking in comparison to other sports ( 6– 8). These high-intensity situations result in a notable increase in injury risk and are especially relevant in children where individual growth and maturation may predispose youth players to a higher risk ( 3– 5). The control groups showed better performance in 20 m sprint time (mean and 90% CI = −0.05 s, from −0.11 to 0.07) and wall volley tests (mean and 90% CI = 0.2, from −0.2 to 0.6) compared to the intervention group.Ĭonclusion: The main findings of this study suggest that just 4 weeks of implementation of the FIFA 11+ kids produces improved physical performance compared with traditional warm-up routines in youth soccer players.įootball (soccer) is a physically demanding sport that entails sudden acceleration and deceleration, rapid changes of directions, jumping and landing tasks, as well as many situations in which players are involved in tackling to keep possession of or to win the ball ( 1, 2). Thirteen physical performance measures, agility run (mean and 90% CI = 0.5 s, from −0.9 to 0 s), vertical jump height, and horizontal jump distance (mean and 90% CI = 2.5 cm, from −8 to 15 cm). The intervention group performed the FIFA 11+ kids programme 2 times a week for 4 weeks the control groups completed their normal warm-up routines. Materials and methods: Twenty-three youth players were randomized within each team into two groups (control vs. Objective: To analyze the training effects of the FIFA 11+ kids on several parameters of physical performance in male youth football players. 3School of Sport and Exercise, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucester, United Kingdom.

2Centre for Translational Research in Physiotherapy, Department of Pathology and Surgery, Physiotherapy Area, Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Alicante, Spain.

1Sports Research Centre, Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Alicante, Spain.

Sergio Hernández-Sánchez 2 and Mark De Ste Croix 3

Fifa 11 plus exercises