Repercussions of a Shortened Winter Break on Injury Incidence Within the German Professional Soccer Leagues

The winter break within the German Professional Football Leagues will be shortened as for the season 2009/2010 from 6.5 to 3.5 weeks. That might have repercussions on injury incidence in either way, positive or negative. On the one hand, recovery time during the winter will be shorter, which might lead to an increased risk of injury. On the other hand, it will allow a better spread of games in the second round, thus reducing the amount of the so-called "English weeks", which in turn could reduce the number of injuries. This study compares injury incidence between the season 2008/2009 (long winter break) and the season 2009/2010(short winter break) via questionnaires in accordance with UEFA/FIFA injury evaluation criteria.