Different strategies for sports injury prevention in an America's Cup yachting crew.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the effectiveness in reducing the number of sport injuries after application of different strategies of preventive physiotherapy during competition periods in an America's Cup yachting crew.


METHODS
A prospective physiotherapy intervention study during competition periods for three seasons was conducted on an America's Cup yachting race crew of 30 professional sailors. In the first two acts (2004), athletes did not receive any preventive physiotherapy. In the two acts celebrated in 2005, preventive intervention (phase 1) consisted of stretching exercises before the yacht race and preventative taping. During the four acts corresponding to the 2006 season, the physiotherapy program was implemented adding articular mobilization before competition, ice baths after competition, and kinesiotaping (phase 2). In the last act and the Louis Vuitton Cup (2007), a recovery program with "core stability" exercises, postcompetition stretching exercises, and 12 h of compressive clothing were added (phase 3).


RESULTS
In the preintervention phase (2004), the rate of injured sailors/competition day was 1.66, decreasing to 0.60 in 2007 (phase 3). The number of athletes with more than one injury was significantly reduced from 53% (8 of 15) to 6.5% (2 of 12). In the preintervention period, mastmen, grinders, and bowmen showed a rate of 2.88 injuries per competition day. After phase 3, this group only suffered 0.35 injuries per competition day.


CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of a program of preventive physiotherapy decreased the risk of injuries suffered during competition by an America's Cup yacht crew.
Hadala
Michal
M
Department of Physiology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. michalhadala@wp.pl
Barrios
Carlos
C
D000328:Adult; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D054874:Athletic Performance; D015444:Exercise; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012767:Ships; D055815:Young Adult