The Effect of Core Stabilization Exercise Program on Kicking Velocity, Sprint Speed and Agility Performance in Male Adolescent Football Players

Core stability is an important component maximising efficient athletic function. Function is most often produced by the kinetic chain, the coordinate sequenced activation of body segments that places the distal segment in the optimum position at the optimum velocity with the optimum timing to produce the desired athletic task. The importance of core stability for injury prevention and performance enhancement has been popularized during the past decades. Up to date, core muscle strengthening plays an important role in different prevention programs, such as the "FIFA 11 +". Football is considered a high-intensity intermittent sport requiring high levels of physical fitness related to the ability to perform powerful actions, with a varied range of activities that involve both breaking and propulsive forces as well as distinct contraction modes and velocities. Speed and power are critical performance factors in football. Football including jumping, kicking, tackling, turning, sprinting, changing pace, and sustaining forceful contractions to maintain balance and control of the ball against defensive pressure. Kicking is one of the most fundamental and frequently used skills in soccer and its motion consists of several stages as follows: (1) the withdrawal of the thigh and shank (backswing); (2) the forward rotation of the thigh and shank, which occurs as a result of hip flexion; (3) the reduction of thigh angular velocity, with a corresponding increase in shank angular velocity up to impact with the ball; and (4) the follow-through. Football is seen as highly intensive sport with an increased injury rate. In adolescent football players, muscle-tendon unit adaptation is effecting by athletic performance. The mechanic loading on this unit results increase risk of lower extremity injuries. In the literature, no study has demonstrated the effectiveness of core stability exercise program in adolescent football players.The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of core stabilization exercise program on adolescent male football players.