The pre-season hamstrings flexibility testing, as a factor of primary prevention of their injuries in female professional soccer athletes.

The study’s purpose is to investigate if the pre-match testing of female athletes, with the hamstrings’ flexibility tests, can predict the first injury as well as which test is the most reliable.

In this study, 64 female professional soccer high-level athletes (average age 21,7, height 1.65m, body mass 59,5 kilos) participated. Based on the exclusion criteria from the 64 participants, 61 were evaluated in both lower extremities, which means that 122 muscle groups were evaluated for their flexibility. Of the 3 participants who were excluded, two had musculoskeletal injuries and one had back pain. The estimation of hamstring’s flexibility was assessed using four different tests, such as: the Active Knee Extension Test (AKE), the Passive Knee Extension Test (PKE), the Straight Leg Raise Test (SLR) and the "Αskling" Test. The evaluation was carried out during the pre- season and the injuries that occurred throughout the recorded season. The association between anthropometric characteristics and the injury rate, such as age, Body mass index (BMI), athletic age and position of the player was also assessed.

A statistically significant relationship between hamstring flexibility and the occurrence of injuries was found only during the flexibility test with SLR (p = .044) and "Αskling" (p = .044). The analysis results revealed that the athletes experienced more injuries in the dominant lower extremity compared to the non-dominant (t(60) =-3,287). However, no significant correlation was found between the age, BMI, athletic age and position of the player (p> 0.05), with the injury occurrence.

Participants with reduced Range of Motion (ROM) in hip flexion due to muscle elasticity may be at greater risk of injury to this muscle group. The age, BMI, athletic age and position of the athlete as possible confounders did not appear to affect this association. Professionals should consider these results using the two most trustworthy test’s SLR elasticity test and the "Αskling" test.

Physiotherapists of sports teams should include muscle elasticity tests as a means of preventing hamstring injuries during the pre-season evaluation of female soccer athletes. The tests that are more effective is  the SLR elasticity test and the "Αskling" test.