Effectiveness of a Judo-specific Injury Prevention Programme on Performance in Judo Athletes

Judo is a popular international combat sport with an estimated 20 million active participants world-wide and participation in judo entails a substantial risk of injury in both elite and recreational judo. It is known that judo involves a significantly higher risk of sports per activity compared with another combat sports such as wrestling, karate, taekwondo an deven popular team sports such as football, basketball and volleyball. Therefore, preventing injuries in judo is so important and various interventions can use in this regard. These include; taping, warm-up and cool-down programs, proper technique trainings and exercise programs. Injury prevention programmes in other sports have been proven effective in reducing injury rates for elite and recreational athletes. In judo, research on exercise-based prevention is limited to the description of injury prevention programs, but the effectiveness of these programs has never been evaluated. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the judo-specific ''IPPON'' warm-up programs for injury prevention of judokas on performance parameters and incidence of injuries among professional judo athletes. In this study, the investigators research the Judo-Specific Special Conditioning Test and the Isometric/Dynamic Judogi Grip Strength Test will be evaluated for performance parameters. In addition, the Upper and Lower Extremity Y Balance Test will be evaluated for balance and the Upper Extremity Internal/External Rotation Strength Test and the Lower Extremity Hamstring/Quadriceps Strength Test will be evaluated for muscle strength assessment. The Turkish translation of the Oslo Trauma Research Center Overuse Questionnaire (OSTRC-O) will be used to monitor the incidence of injuries among professional judo athletes.