Abstract:

To enhance players’ performance and prevent injuries, warm-up exercises are often employed in soccer. The study's objective was to determine how the upper extremity strength, balance, and shoulder stability of soccer goalkeepers are impacted by replacing traditional warm-up routines with FIFA 11+ Shoulder Injury Prevention programme. In this quasi-experimental study, 36 soccer goalkeepers from Delhi NCR region were recruited based on inclusion criteria. 18 subjects (age: 18.94 ±3.08; BMI: 20.39 ± 2.29) belonging to the control group continued their customary warm up routine and the other 18 subjects (age: 19.39 ± 1.94; BMI: 20.10 ± 2.03) of the experimental group underwent FIFA 11 + Shoulder Injury Prevention Program for a duration of 8 weeks with a frequency of 3 times per week. IBM SPSS Statistics 26 was used to analyse the data. The baseline data for both the groups was found similar (p>0.05) at the beginning of the study. Both groups reported a statistically significant (p<0.05) increase in upper extremity power, balance, and shoulder stability post 8 weeks. Large effect sizes were obtained when post-intervention values of all parameters were compared between the 2 groups (Cohen's d>1). Also, the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group. It is concluded that, when compared to the conventional warm-up routine, the FIFA 11+ Shoulder Injury Prevention Programme is more effective at improving upper extremity performance, dynamic balance, and dynamic stability in male soccer goalkeepers over an 8-week period. This study also suggests that soccer goalkeepers should incorporate this into their normal warm-up routines.

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