Sport injuries aligned to peak height velocity in talented pubertal soccer players
26 talented players followed for 3 years around the growth spurt had more traumatic injuries in the year of peak height velocity than the year before, a moderate rise in overuse injuries after it, and about twice the days missed during it
In young athletes, the demands of sport are superimposed on normal growth and maturation, and it has been suggested that this causes a temporarily increased vulnerability to injury. The authors followed talented soccer players longitudinally for 3 years around their adolescent growth spurt (peak height velocity, PHV) and compared traumatic and overuse injuries and days missed per player per year before, during and after PHV. Abstract only was read.
Participants
n=26 talented soccer players, mean age 11.9±0.84 years at the start (abstract). Sex is not stated in the abstract.
Protocol
Followed longitudinally for 3 years around the adolescent growth spurt (abstract).
PHV was calculated according to the Maturity Offset Protocol (abstract; the method of REF-1065).
Number of injuries calculated for each player per year; repeated measurement analysis comparing the year before, the year of and the year after PHV (abstract).
Key Results
Traumatic injuries: significantly more in the year of PHV (1.41) than in the year before PHV (0.81) per player (abstract).
Overuse injuries: per player per year, 0.81 before PHV versus 1.41 after it, a moderate difference (effect size 0.42) (abstract).
Days missed: injuries cost 7.27 days per player per year before PHV and 15.69 during it, a moderate difference (effect size 0.55) (abstract).
Authors' conclusion: the growth spurt of adolescence appears to make players more vulnerable to traumatic injuries, and once it has passed they appear prone to overuse injuries (abstract).
Practical Application
Is the growth spurt a risky time for a young athlete? In 26 talented youth soccer players followed for 3 years (van der Sluis 2013, B, small cohort), traumatic injuries rose in the year of peak height velocity (1.41 vs 0.81 per player the year before), overuse injuries rose after it (effect size 0.42), and days missed went from 7.27 to 15.69 per player per year — so the spurt and the year after deserve extra care with load and with any pain.
Ask about growth: a teenager who is shooting up is in the window this study flags; recent fast growth plus new pain is a reason to ease load and involve a parent (SYNTH-81).
Inference, not tested here: transfer from soccer (contact, sprinting, kicking) to cycling is uncertain — the traumatic-injury finding fits contact and falls, while the overuse finding is the more plausible carry-over to a growing rider.
Not from this paper: REF-602 found growth rate was not related to injury in a clinic case-control of all sports; the two designs differ, so the base treats growth-spurt risk as plausible rather than settled.
Limitations
n=26 from one talent programme in one sport; effect sizes are moderate and confidence intervals are not given in the abstract.
The abstract reports the same per-player values (0.81 and 1.41) for the traumatic comparison (year before vs year of PHV) and for the overuse comparison (before vs after PHV); whether these are truly identical or a reporting error cannot be checked without the full text, which was not read.
PHV was estimated from the maturity offset equations, which carry error (REF-1065); exposure (training hours, match load) is not described in the abstract, so the rise cannot be separated from rising load with age.
How this entry was checked and changed
Why this level
small cohort, n=26