The effectiveness of eight weeks of a movement-based program on functional movement patterns in male professional soccer players

Poor functional movement is a risk factor for injuries in soccer players. Players with dysfunctional movement patterns, measured by the Functional Movement Screen (FMSTM), are more likely to suffer an injury compared than those who have higher scores on the FMSTM. The purpose of our study was to assess the effectiveness of 8-weeks of functional movement-based training on fundamental movement patterns. Two groups of Professional male soccer players (experimental, N=15, and control N=15), aged between 18 and 28, of an Italian second division team were compared using the pre-post FMSTM scores after intervention. RM-MANOVA 2 Groups (experimental and control) X 2 Test (pre and post) on the FMS scores revealed a significant a difference for the interaction between Groups and Tests (Wilk’s lamba.712, F(3,26) = 3.50, p =.029 Eta2 =.288 Power.713). Following Univariate results on the three subscales of the FMSTM revealed significant interaction between group and test on advanced movement (F(1,28) = 5.19, p =.03, eta2 =.157, observed power.595) and mobility (F(1,28) = 3.89, p =.050, eta2 =.122, observed power.478) but not on stability (p =.305). The results of this study suggest that an 8-week intervention program was an effective way for improving FMSTM scores in a group of male professional soccer players, particularly for advanced movement and mobility subscales. From an applied point of view this findings provide more evidence on the efficacy of qualitative intervention on functional movement pattern improvement that is related to the injury prevention and suggest the importance of specific movement-based intervention with soccer players.