Purpose: The anterior cruciate ligament is one of the most vulnerable knee ligaments. The biomechanical and neuromuscular differences of the trunk during sports activities are the main cause of non-collision injury. Therefore, the aim of the present research was to investigate the effect of six weeks selected core stability exercises on the jumping-landing pattern and trunk endurance in adolescent volleyball players with trunk defects.
Methods: The present semi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design was conducted on 65 adolescent volleyball players from Shiraz, of whom 22 athletes with trunk defects were selected during the initial screening. Available sampling was done and the subjects were randomly divided into the experimental (n=11, average age: 16.36±0.41 years, height: 1.74±0.02 m, and weight: 61.54± 3.12 kg) and control (n=11, average age: 16.18±0.50 years, height: 1.70± 0.02 m, and weight: 61.27 ±2.36 kg). The tuck jump test was used to assess the subjects' trunk defect. Core stability exercises were performed for six weeks, three days a week. To evaluate the jumping-landing pattern and trunk muscular endurance, the Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) and McGill protocol were used, respectively, and to analyze the results, the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and independent t-test at a significant level of P<0.05 were used .
Results: A significant difference was observed in the jumping-landing pattern (P=0.001) and trunk muscular endurance (P=0.001) between the two control and experimental groups.
Conclusion: The results of the present research showed that six weeks selected core stability exercises improved the jumping-landing pattern of adolescent volleyball players with trunk defects and also improved their trunk muscular endurance. Therefore, sports coaches are recommended to use the trunk defect screening test, as well as the core stability exercises protocols to prevent sports injuries in adolescent volleyball players.