This literature review will critically analyse the work of Greig (2008). The basis of Greig’s (2008) work was encouraged by the number of muscle strain injuries that occur in soccer. From his epidemiological studies of Hawkins and others (2001) it seemed that 41% of all injuries recorded in soccer where identified as muscle strain injuries, most commonly to the thigh region i.e. hamstring, quadriceps and adductor injuries (Hawkins et al. 2001). Further research by Greig (2008) highlighted that these muscle strains occurred in the later stages of playing time in a soccer match.
So Greig (2008) realised that there must be a significant reason to why English soccer league players pick up injuries at similar time in similar regions. It seems clear that the demands of the game will have a significant effect on players physically and therefore effecting their risk to injury. Soccer requires bursts of acceleration and deceleration requiring players to works at maximum intensities for short periods (Bangsbo et al. 1994; Rahnama et al. 2003), therefore Greig’s(2008) testing methods where required to incorporate these activities to determine when players become fatigued, so Greig could then work out the effect this had on the strength of the thigh muscles.…show more content… 2002; Gleeson et al. 1998; Mercer et al. 2003). It appeared obvious that the compact fixture list of professional soccer and the muscular endurance demand of the modern game meant that fatigue was likely to occur towards the end of play time (Thompson et al.1999). Scholars suggest that fatigue not only effects muscle strength but it can determine the biomechanics of the players movement which will also increase the risk of injury (Williams 1985/ Greig et al. 2006/ Pinniger et al.
