Clinical Research Directory

Role of Stepping and BOSU Ball Training in Enhancing Postural Balance and Performance of Badminton Players

Influence of Square Stepping and BOSU Ball Exercise on Lower Extremity Balance and Strength in Badminton Players: An Expanded Explanation for Patients, Families, and Health Care Providers Badminton is a dynamic and physically demanding sport that requires a unique combination of speed, agility, balance, coordination, and muscular strength. Unlike many other sports, badminton involves frequent and rapid changes in direction, explosive lunges, sudden stops, jumps, and controlled landings, often performed repeatedly within a short period of time. These movements place significant stress on the lower extremities, particularly the ankles, knees, hips, and surrounding muscles. As a result, maintaining good balance and adequate lower limb strength is essential not only for optimal performance but also for injury prevention. This research study focuses on understanding how two specific exercise methods, Square Stepping Exercise (SE) and BOSU Ball Exercise (BE)-can influence lower extremity balance and strength when used together in badminton players. While each of these exercises has already been shown to provide benefits when used individually, their combined effect, particularly in relation to badminton-specific physical demands, has not been well explored. The findings of this study may help athletes, families, coaches, physiotherapists, and other health care providers make informed decisions about training, rehabilitation, and injury prevention strategies. Understanding the Physical Demands of Badminton To appreciate the importance of this study, it is essential to understand the physical demands of badminton. Badminton is often underestimated as a recreational sport; however, at both competitive and recreational levels, it is one of the fastest racket sports in the world. Players must react quickly to the shuttlecock, which can travel at extremely high speeds, and move efficiently across the court using complex footwork patterns. Key physical requirements of badminton include: Dynamic balance, which allows players to maintain body control while moving, lunging, jumping, or landing. Lower limb strength, especially in the quadriceps, hamstrings, calf muscles, and hip muscles, to generate power and absorb forces. Agility and coordination, enabling quick directional changes and precise foot placement. Postural control to stabilize the body during rapid and asymmetrical movements. During a typical rally, a badminton player may perform multiple lunges, side steps, backward steps, and jumps within seconds. These movements are often performed on one leg, increasing the challenge to balance and joint stability. If a player lacks adequate balance or strength, they may struggle to control these movements efficiently, which can negatively affect performance and increase the likelihood of injury. Common Lower Extremity Injuries in Badminton: Because of the sport's high physical demands, badminton players are at risk of various lower extremity injuries. These injuries can occur due to overuse, improper landing mechanics, muscle weakness, or poor balance control. Common injuries include: Ankle sprains are often caused by sudden changes in direction or unstable landings. Knee injuries, such as patellar tendinopathy or ligament strain Muscle strains, particularly in the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf muscles Overuse injuries, resulting from repetitive movements without adequate recovery. Many of these injuries are linked to deficits in balance, muscle strength, and neuromuscular control. Improving these physical components through targeted exercise programs is therefore a key focus of sports training and rehabilitation. In badminton, exercises that improve balance and lower limb strength can help players move more efficiently, react faster, and maintain stability during challenging movements. Balance and strength training also improve communication between the nervous system and muscles, which is essential for precise and controlled movements. Square Stepping Exercise (SE) is a structured form of stepping activity performed on a grid or pattern marked on the floor, usually consisting of multiple squares arranged in rows and columns. Participants are instructed to step into specific squares in a particular sequence, moving forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally. A BOSU ball is a training device consisting of a half-sphere dome attached to a flat base. While square stepping and BOSU ball exercises are effective individually, they target balance and strength in slightly different ways. Square stepping focuses more on movement accuracy, coordination, and directional control, whereas BOSU ball exercise emphasizes stability, muscle activation, and joint control under unstable conditions. Combining these two exercises may improve both static and dynamic balance and enhance functional strength relevant to badminton movement efficiency.

Enhancing Prevention of Injuries in Community Youth and Adult Amateur Football Players

This is a type 3 hybrid cluster randomised controlled trial, where implementation of the intervention is the primary outcome and preventive effectiveness is the secondary outcome. The overall purpose of this study is to evaluate the added value of implementation support on the use and preventive effectiveness of the injury prevention exercise programme Knee Control+ in male and female, youth and adult amateur football teams. Research questions 1. Does use and injury preventive effect of Knee Control+ differ between teams randomised to an intervention group receiving additional support for Knee Control+ use and teams randomised to a control group with standard access to digital Knee Control+ programme material? 2. Does coach self-efficacy to use Knee Control+, player motivation and player training dosage differ between the intervention and control groups? 3. What are the mediators and moderators that influence use of Knee Control+? 4. How well do the intervention and control groups adhere to Knee Control+ recommended use and is there an association between adherence and preventive efficacy? 5. How are different components of the support material used by the intervention group teams, and how is the implementation support perceived by administrators, coaches and players in the clubs (end-users) and by fitness coaches who educate coaches about the programme (intervention deliverers)? 6. How do coaches perceive their engagement to lead Knee Control+ training with their players and has this changed after having used the implementation support material? Football teams will be randomised before the 2025 season to an intervention group receiving additional support for the implementation of Knee Control+ or to a control group without this support. All teams will have access to digital programme material via the Swedish Football Association. Data on implementation of Knee Control+ and injuries (players only) will be collected weekly (coaches) and monthly (players) throughout the season using web-based questionnaires. Behavioural outcomes: for coaches self-efficacy, action and coping planning and perceived support from the club, and for players autonomous motivation, basic psychological needs and basic need support, will also be analysed.

Effectiveness of a Judo-specific Injury Prevention Programme on Performance in Judo Athletes

Judo is a popular international combat sport with an estimated 20 million active participants world-wide and participation in judo entails a substantial risk of injury in both elite and recreational judo. It is known that judo involves a significantly higher risk of sports per activity compared with another combat sports such as wrestling, karate, taekwondo an deven popular team sports such as football, basketball and volleyball. Therefore, preventing injuries in judo is so important and various interventions can use in this regard. These include; taping, warm-up and cool-down programs, proper technique trainings and exercise programs. Injury prevention programmes in other sports have been proven effective in reducing injury rates for elite and recreational athletes. In judo, research on exercise-based prevention is limited to the description of injury prevention programs, but the effectiveness of these programs has never been evaluated. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the judo-specific ''IPPON'' warm-up programs for injury prevention of judokas on performance parameters and incidence of injuries among professional judo athletes. In this study, the investigators research the Judo-Specific Special Conditioning Test and the Isometric/Dynamic Judogi Grip Strength Test will be evaluated for performance parameters. In addition, the Upper and Lower Extremity Y Balance Test will be evaluated for balance and the Upper Extremity Internal/External Rotation Strength Test and the Lower Extremity Hamstring/Quadriceps Strength Test will be evaluated for muscle strength assessment. The Turkish translation of the Oslo Trauma Research Center Overuse Questionnaire (OSTRC-O) will be used to monitor the incidence of injuries among professional judo athletes.