The overall injury incidence was 1.3 injuries per 1000 runs in the snowboarding FIS World Cup season 2002/2003 (Torjussen and Bahr, 2006). The most common injury location was the knee (18% of all acute injuries). Physical fitness is important for snowboard performance (Platzer et al. 2009), and could be a factor in injury prevention. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of different leg strength parameters on lower body injuries in elite snowboarders. METHODS 27 elite Austrian snowboarders took part in this study. The subjects mean values±SD for age, height and body mass were 24.1±4.8 years, 172.6±8.3 cm and 67.1±10.3 kg. All injuries in the season 2007/2008 were recorded during an interview. Concentric and eccentric leg/hip strength and power for flexors and extensors were measured on a Contrex leg press (closed kinetic chain). For statistical analysis t-tests were used to investigate differences between injured and non-injured athletes and to analyse the variation of strength and power between left and right leg/hip. A Phi test was used to correlate gender and standing position with the occurrence of injuries. RESULTS In the comparison of front and back legs, all athletes` back legs had greater absolute and relative eccentric strength and power (p<0.01) and lower H/Q-ratios (p<0.05). The back legs of the injured group were weaker in relative leg/hip extension (p<0.05) and had higher H/Q ratios than the non injured group (p<0.05). Injured athletes showed higher bilateral asymmetry in concentric leg/hip extension (p<0.01). There were no group differences in test front leg variables or in leg flexion (p>0.05). The Phi test did not show any correlation between gender (Phi=-0.031, p>0.05) or standing position (Phi=0.324, p>0.05) with lower body injury rate. DISCUSSION The results indicate that relative leg/hip extension strength may be important in the prevention of lower body injuries. Eccentric strength is important in the compression phase of the turn in slalom and giant slalom and landings in freestyle and snowboard cross events. The H/Q ratios in the injured group were better, but this could be due simply to the fact that the injured group was weaker in extension and similar in flexion strength. Athletes in alpine sports such as snowboarding and skiing typically have strong quadriceps and often neglect hamstring training. In conclusion, relative leg/hip strength and bilateral leg strength balance are beneficial in preventing lower body injuries.
© Copyright 2009 14th annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science, Oslo/Norway, June 24-27, 2009, Book of Abstracts. Published by The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. All rights reserved.