The Screening Value of Single Leg Squat and Vertical Drop Jump for Predicting Lower Limb Injuries in Professional Male Football Players

Objective.To evaluate the ability of Single Leg Squat (SLS) and Vertical Drop Jump (VDJ) tests to predict lower limb injuries in professional footballers.Methods.In a prospective cohort study SLS and VDJ scores were recorded before the start of the season and the lower limb injuries were recorded as followed up during a 9-month season (2021)(2022).Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the accuracy of the prognosis of SLS and VDJ tests.Results.During the nine months of follow up, a total of twenty-five lower limb injuries (in twenty-three footballers) were recorded for 121 professional male footballers.The model explained 22% (Nagelkerke R2) of the variance in lower limb injury and correctly predicted 85.1% of cases.ROC analysis showed significant accuracy of the VDJ performance score of the footballer (AUC 0.659, 95%CI 3.639-63.434,p = 0.001, OR = 0.204) in discriminating between injured and uninjured players.The optimum cut-off level of the VDJ performance score of the football players was 0.5.Conclusions.VDJ test is a suitable tool for predicting lower limb injuries in professional male footballers, but SLS cannot be used as a reliable screening tool.