Unexpected-Disturbance Program for Rehabilitation of High-Performance Athletes.

CONTEXT: The Unexpected-Disturbance Program (UDP) promotes exercises in response to so-called involuntary short- to midlatency disturbances.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the effectiveness of the UDP in the last 6 wk of rehabilitation.

DESIGN

Pre-post study with 2-tailed paired t tests for limited a priori comparisons to examine differences.

SETTING

National Sports Institute of Malaysia.

PARTICIPANTS

24 Malaysian national athletes.

INTERVENTIONS: 7 sessions/wk of 90 min with 3 sessions allocated for 5 or 6 UDP exercises.

MAIN OUTCOMES: Significant improvements for men and women were noted. Tests included 20-m sprint, 1-repetition-maximum single-leg press, standing long jump, single-leg sway, and a psychological questionnaire.

RESULTS

For men and women, respectively, average strength improvements of 22% (d = 0.96) and 29% (d = 1.05), sprint time of 3% (d = 1.06) and 4% (d = 0.58), and distance jumped of 4% (d = 0.59) and 6% (d = 0.47) were noted. In addition, athletes reported improved perceived confidence in their abilities. All athletes improved in each functional test except for long jump in 2 of the athletes. Mediolateral sway decreased in 18 of the 22 athletes for the injured limb.

CONCLUSION

The prevention training with UDP resulted in improved conditioning and seems to decrease mediolateral sway.