• Francesco Agostini, Alessandro de Sire, Luca Furcas, Nikolaos Finamore, Giacomo Farì, Sara Giuliani, Valerio Sveva, Andrea Bernetti, Marco Paoloni, and Massimiliano Mangone.
• Department of Anatomy, Histology, Forensic Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy.
• Medicina (Kaunas). 2023 Nov 30; 59 (12).

AbstractBackground and Objectives: Acute and chronic injuries are frequent in volleyball. Biomechanics of sport-specific tasks can influence the risk of injury, which is also related to specific court positions. We investigated posture at raster-stereography, balance, and dynamic tasks using inertial motion units to find differences between roles, which can be predictive of a higher risk of injury. Materials and Methods: We cross-sectionally evaluated amateur volleyball athletes. Participants were divided into roles as outside hitters, setters, middle blockers, and opposite hitters. We excluded the "libero" position from our analysis. Results: Sixteen players were included in the analysis. A statistically significant difference was found in left lower limb stiffness among the outside hitter and setter groups. Conclusions: Differences in stiffness might be related to the different training and the different abilities among the two groups. Raster-stereography is extending its indications and should be implemented for non-invasive postural analysis. The use of inertial motion units provides objective measurements of variables that could go unrecognized within a clinical evaluation; its use should be considered in injury preventive programs.

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