Men’s Lacrosse Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention
by Jessi Glauser, MS, CSCS,*D, Justin Kilian, MEd, CSCS,*D, and Bridget Ann Frugoli Melton, EdD, CSCS,*D, TSAC-F,*D
NSCA Coach
August 2021
Vol 8, Issue 2
The purpose of this article is to present a sample injury prevention program with a specific emphasis on lower body posterior chain development throughout competitive and non-competitive college lacrosse seasons.
Introduction
Lacrosse is often referred to as the fastest game on two feet and is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States with participation surging to 829,423 athletes across all competitive levels (23). Participation at the collegiate level across all divisions accounts for 43,228 athletes based on the most recent participation report by U.S. Lacrosse (23). Lacrosse gameplay dictates the inclusion of collision and contact engagements (5,11). However, non-contact injuries are sustained at all levels of play resulting in time loss from participation (13). Due to the nature of the high-velocity changes in direction and collision impacts commonly observed in men’s lacrosse, time-loss injuries have been attributed to player-to-player contact, equipment contact, non-contact events, and deterioration due to chronic overuse of connective and contractile tissues (11,14,22).
This article originally appeared in NSCA Coach, a quarterly publication for NSCA Members that provides valuable takeaways for every level of strength and conditioning coach. You can find scientifically based articles specific to a wide variety of your athletes’ needs with Nutrition, Programming, and Youth columns. Read more articles from NSCA Coach »
Related Reading
Kinetic and Electromyographic Responses to Traditional and Assisted Nordic Hamstring Exercise
Hamstring Myoelectrical Activity during Three Different Kettlebell Swing Exercises
Preseason Performance Testing Battery for Men’s Lacrosse
Activity Profile of High-Level Australian Lacrosse Players
The Nordic Eccentric Hamstring Exercise for Injury Prevention in Soccer Players
References
1. Akiyama, K, Sasaki, T, and Mashiko, M. Elite male lacrosse players’ match activity profile. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine 18(2): 290, 2019.
2. Boyle, M. New Functional Training for Sports. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2019.
3. Burrows, AP, Cleather, D, Mahaffey, R, and Cimadoro, G. Kinetic and electromyographic responses to traditional and assisted Nordic hamstring exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 34(10): 2715-2724, 2020.
4. Chebbi, S, Chamari, K, Van Dyk, N, Gabbett, T, and Tabben, M. Hamstring injury prevention for elite soccer players: A real-world prevention program showing the effect of players’ compliance on the outcome. Published ahead of print. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2020.
5. Collins, SM, Silberlicht, M, Perzinski, C, Smith, SP, and Davidson, PW. The relationship between body composition and preseason performance tests of collegiate male lacrosse players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 28(9): 2673-2679, 2004.
6. Dai, B, Herman, D, Liu, H, Garrett, WE, and Yu, B. Prevention of ACL injury, part I: Injury characteristics, risk factors, and loading mechanism. Research in Sports Medicine 20(3-4): 180-197, 2012.
7. Del Monte, MJ, Opar, DA, Timmins, RG, Ross, JA, Keogh, JW, and Lorenzen, C. Hamstring myoelectrical activity during three different kettlebell swing exercises. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 34(7): 1953-1958, 2020.
8. Gutowski, AE, and Rosene, JM. Preseason performance testing battery for men’s lacrosse. Strength and Conditioning Journal 33(2): 16-22, 2011.
9. Haff, G, and Triplett, NT. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. (4th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2016.
10. Hewett, TE, Lindenfeld, TN, Riccobene, JV, and Noyes, FR. The effect of neuromuscular training on the incidence of knee injury in female athletes. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 27(6): 699-706, 1999.
11. Howley, T. Complete Conditioning for Lacrosse. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2016.
12. Kerr, ZY, Marshall, SW, Dompier, TP, Corlette, J, Klossner, DA, and Gilchrist, J. College sports-related injuries—United States, 2009–10 through 2013–14 academic years. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 64(48): 1330-1336, 2015.
13. Kerr, ZY, Quigley, A, Yeargin, SW, Lincoln, AE, Mensch, J, Caswell, SV, and Dompier, TP. The epidemiology of NCAA men’s lacrosse injuries, 2009/10 – 2014/15 academic years. Injury Epidemiology 4(1): 6, 2017.
14. Kerr, ZY, Roos, KG, Lincoln, AE, Morris, S, Yeargin, SW, Grant, J, et al. Injury incidence in youth, high school, and NCAA men’s lacrosse. Pediatrics 143(6): e20183482, 2019.
15. McGuigan, MR, Wright, GA, and Fleck, SJ. Strength training for athletes: Does it really help sports performance? International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance 7(1): 2-5, 2012.
16. Nessler, T, Denney, L, and Sampley, J. ACL injury prevention: What does research tell us? Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine 10(3): 281-288, 2017.
17. Polley, CS, Cormack, SJ, Gabbett, TJ, and Polglaze, T. Activity profile of high-level Australian lacrosse players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 29(1): 126-136, 2015.
18. Putukian, M, Lincoln, AE, and Crisco, JJ. Sports-specific issues in men’s and women’s lacrosse. Current Sports Medicine Reports 13(5): 334-340, 2014.
19. Reiman, MP, Bolgla, LA, and Loudon, K. A literature review of studies evaluating gluteus maximus and gluteus medius activation during rehabilitation exercises. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice 28(4): 257-268, 2012.
20. Sayers, BE. The Nordic eccentric hamstring exercise for injury prevention in soccer players. Strength and Conditioning Journal 30(4): 56-58, 2008.
21. Sell, KM, Prendergast, JM, Ghigiarelli, JJ, Gonzalez, AM, Biscardi, LM, Jajtner, AR, and Rothstein, AS. Comparison of physical fitness parameters for starters vs. nonstarters in an NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse team. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 32(11): 3160-3168, 2018.
22. Stoltzfus, S, Cottle, C, Lyons, C, and Lawrence, MA. Effect of the PEP program on biomechanical risk factors in male collegiate lacrosse athletes. Poster presentation, 2015.
23. US Lacrosse. US Lacrosse participation report. Retrieved November 2020 from http://www.uslacrosse.org.
24. van der Horst, N, Smits, DW, Petersen, J, Goedhart, EA, and Backx, FJ. The preventive effect of the nordic hamstring exercise on hamstring injuries in amateur soccer players: A randomized controlled trial. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 43(6): 1316-1323, 2015.
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Use
- Retraction and Correction Policy
- © 2024 National Strength and Conditioning Association
#NSCAStrong
#NSCAStrong