Background: Football being considered intermittent high intensity sport. It requires flexibility, power, strength and balance for finishing the game without any injury. The purpose of the present study is that there are many techniques to improve hamstring flexibility and prevent injury due to tight hamstring as per recent studies, in this study we are comparing as to which technique is most effective for improving the hamstring flexibility as well as bio motor abilities among male football players.

Aim: Static-Stretching, Eccentric-strengthening and neural-slider to improve the flexibility and performance of football player.

Method: 60 male football players were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria with age of 14-24 years. They were randomly assigned into four equal groups. The control group (Group-A) received no treatment. The other groups received static stretching (Group-B), static stretching plus eccentric strengthening (Group-C), static stretching plus eccentric strengthening plus neural slider(Group-D) and. The treatment was given for 3 days a week for 6 weeks continuously. Pre-test and post-test measurements of vertical jump test, Y balance, T test and sit and reach test were conducted.

Results and Discussion: Pre and Post Analysis were done by T-test, ANOVA and POST HOC BONFERRONI through SPSS version 20.0. Improvement was seen in hamstring muscles and bio motor abilities in Group-D after receiving the treatment for 6 weeks. Statistical improvement is seen in some of the components of bio motor abilities also.

Conclusions: The interventional Group-D with static stretching, eccentric strengthening and neural slider was more effective compared to other groups. It indicates that the combined protocol can be used to prevent injuries related to tightness in football players and improve bio motor abilities.

Keywords: Football, Sit and reach test, Vertical jump test, T-Test, Y-Balance test, Static stretching, Eccentric strengthening, Neural slider, Hamstring, Tightness, Bio-motor ability.

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Prachi oza

P.G Scholar Musculoskeletal and Sports Science at R.K University Rajkot, Gujarat, India