Game-play affects hamstring but not adductor muscle fibre mechanics in elite U20 basketball athletes

ABSTRACT

Muscle tendon unit fibre mechanics of hamstring and adductor strain injuries are not well studied, with factors such as fatigue promoted as risk factors in the absence of mechanistic evidence. In this study, musculoskeletal modelling was used to estimate fibre mechanics of four hamstring (biceps femoris long head, biceps femoris short head, semimembranosus and semitendinosus) and four adductor (adductor brevis, adductor longus, adductor magnus and gracilis) muscles during an anticipated cut task. The cut task was performed by 10 healthy elite male U20 basketball players both before and immediately after they played in one (of four) competitive basketball game. Biceps femoris long head produced significantly lower (p = 0.032) submaximal force post-game in the latter part of swing (30.7% to 35.0% of stride), though its peak force occurred later (37%) and remained unchanged. Semimembranosus produced significantly lower (p = 0.006) force post-game (32.9% to 44.9% of stride), which encompassed the instance of peak force (39%). Neither fibre velocity nor fibre length of the investigated muscles were significantly affected by game-play. These finding suggest that if fatigue is a factor in hamstring and adductor muscle strain injuries and is brought about by game-play, it is unlikely through the fibre mechanisms investigated in this study.

KEYWORDS:

• Musculoskeletal modelling
• cumulative trauma disorders
• strain
• forces

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence, Basketball Australia and Australian Institute of Sport for supporting this study. Additionally, the authors wish to acknowledge Hoa X. Hoang for his assistance in the initial data analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, R.A., upon reasonable request.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2022.2133006

Additional information

Funding

This study was financially supported by General Electric and National Basketball Association Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Collaboration.