A Video Analysis Study Examining Neuromuscular Training Warm-Up Practices in Youth Soccer.

OBJECTIVES To investigate time spent completing neuromuscular training (NMT) exercises in youth soccer team warm-up across a season considering sex, level of play, session type, and coach exposure and awareness of NMT.

DESIGN Cross-sectional video-analysis study.

SETTING Youth soccer, Calgary, Canada.

PARTICIPANTS Tier 1-3 youth (U13-U18) soccer teams (n = 22) from 6 clubs during the 2022 outdoor season (11v11).

INTERVENTIONS Across a 5-month season (May-September), 10 warm-ups (1 practice, 1 game) were filmed for each team at each time point.

MAIN OUTCOME Time spent (s) by NMT components (aerobic, balance, strength, agility, head-on-neck control). Coaches' current knowledge of NMT was also collected in relation to current warm-up structure.

RESULTS Twenty-two teams completing 171 warm-ups (87 practices, 84 games) were analyzed. Mean active time (seconds; s) spent in warm-ups was 322.4s (95% CI, 250.3-394.5). NMT components account for 202.2s (95% CI, 150.3-254.2), with majority spent in aerobic (156.9s, 95% CI, 137.3-176.6) and less than 1 minute (22.3%) in more critical components (balance, strength, agility). No head-on-neck components were observed. Changes in warm-up composition did not change across time points. Female elite teams spent 335.8 s (95% CI, 257.8-413.8) less than elite males in practices. There were not differences in elite game warm-ups or across nonelite groups. Of 13 coaches, 38.5% knew about NMT warm-up programs, whereas only 3 (23.1%) reported implementing NMT warm-up programs.

CONCLUSION Despite previous implementation efforts, time spent in critical NMT component (balance, strength, agility), apart from aerobic, was limited. Increased engagement and evaluation of head-on-neck control should be considered. Targeted implementation strategies are essential to maximize injury prevention efforts.