Written by Ben Sonnenburg
The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a tool used by both researchers and practitioners across the U.S.
It has been demonstrated to be a good tool as well to determine higher likelihood of injury and a snapshot of where a person is at. Nevertheless, there have been few studies performed by researchers that seek to demonstrate how this tool differentiates an elite athlete versus a non-elite athlete. Therefore, the purpose of a particular study was to compare FMS scores between elite swimmers and non-elite swimmers while simultaneously getting a more defined look at their 100m freestyle performance.
In this study, there were 32 elite swimmers chosen from the Portuguese National Swimming Team and 17 non-elite swimmers by the researchers. The median age for the elite swimmers was 14.99 years old while the non-elite athletes median age was 14.65. Height and body mass also was not found by the researchers to be a significant difference between the two groups.
Every person also chose to be a part of the study voluntarily. The evaluation was conducted using the standard seven tests that comprise the FMS. They are the deep squat, hurdle step, inline lunge, shoulder mobility, active straight leg raise, trunk stability push up, and rotary stability.
Each one is used by the researchers to test the bodies response to different stresses placed on the body. The assessments were performed by the same two researchers simultaneously while also following the normal pain scale from 0-3. A score of 0 was given if the participant experienced any pain throughout the movement, whereas a score of one was given if they performed it very poorly but with no pain.
Continually, a two was given if they performed it well, but their form was poor. Finally, a three was given if they performed the exercise well without pain. A maximum score would be 21 points and the lowest score could be a zero. Their swimming performance was also measured using the FINA point system based on a person’s swimming time. The faster the time, the better their points would be.
After the researchers tested all the athletes, they found that there was no difference between the athletes on the rotary stability test. However, the elite group achieved much higher scores for all other tests except for the left should mobility. Nevertheless, the left shoulder test was also found by the researchers to be insignificant due to the closeness of the scores. The elite athletes had an average of 1.35 more points than the non-elite athletes. Their FINA scores were also much higher by approximately 250 points on a 1,000-point scale.
The elite athletes demonstrated in this study that there is a strong correlation between FMS score and FINA score. Their deep squat, trunk stability push-up, hurdle step, straight leg raise, and in line lunge were all higher than the non-elite athletes. It correlated to having more than a 250-point difference in the FINA score that calculates their score based on their time.
Therefore, if the non-elite athletes want to improve, they should work on their movements that they scored much less in. A limitation of the study found by the researchers was that they did not consider past injuries within this test and had no exclusion criteria. Therefore, since the study was performed on only young swimmers, the data could potentially be different for the older ones. Anthropometric data was also not taken into consideration which could have impacted their scores as well severely.
Regardless, the findings in the article by the researchers demonstrate that the elite swimmers have more functionality and better times compared to non-elite swimmers.
The scores were extremely different in both groups and can be used as an effective tool for this specific age group. Therefore, the FMS is a useful in determining one’s potential athletic capability.
This article performed by the researchers was helpful in answering my research question. It provided another avenue apart from just injury.
The goal of the question was to learn about movement assessments and their effectiveness.
The researchers demonstrated that it is useful, in at least young swimmers, and can be implemented in a training environment.
Reference:
Lucas, D., Neiva, H. P., Marinho, D. A., Ferraz, R., Rolo, I., & Duarte-Mendes, P. (2021). Functional Movement Screen® evaluation: comparison between elite and non-elite young swimmers. / Evaluación Functional Movement Screen®: Comparación entre nadadores jóvenes de élite y no élite. Cuadernos de Psicología Del Deporte, 21(2), 163–172.