The Role of Anthropometry in Decision-Making for Injury Prevention Among Elite Flag Football Players

Abstract

Although Flag Football (FF) is growing worldwide, the literature to guide sports sciences in preventing injuries is scarce. The aim of this study was to analyse how anthropometric characteristics were associated with injury in elite FF players. Athletes completed a full profile according to the International Society of Advances in Kinanthropometry (ISAK), including weight, height, sitting height, arm span length, skinfolds, girths, length and breadth bones, and an injury questionnaire was administered. Logistic regression models and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were conducted. In total, 108 FF national team players, 34 female (26.7 ± 4.3 years old) and 74 male (26.9 ± 5.1 years old), participated. Of these, 62% FF players reported injuries. Relaxed arm and flexed and contracted arm girths are related to increased or reduced injury risks (Odds = 2.932, p = 0.008; Odds = 0.335, p = 0.009, respectively), while longer tibia length and higher muscle mass also increase the risk (Odds = 1.407, p = 0.034; Odds = 1.223, p = 0.010, respectively). Specific cut-off points were defined by sex, such as hip circumference, established at 103 cm in the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) model for males, increasing the risk by 5 times. Anthropometric characteristics were related to injury incidence and could be used by sports science practitioners as an efficient decision-making tool to describe and analyse the static and dynamic components of FF players in injury prevention.