ABSTRACT
Asymmetries in strength both between antagonistic muscle groups and bilateral limbs have been deemed predisposing factors towards injury in soccer players (Fowler and Reilly, 1993). Isokinetic dynamometers provide a relatively easy means of assessing these relationships. Although the ratio of peak eccentric hamstrings torque to peak concentric quadriceps torque (HECC:QCON ratio) may be the most accurate means of describing the strength properties about the knee (Aagaard et al., 1998), combining such data with conventional hamstrings to quadriceps ratios (H:Q ratio) and absolute values of isokinetic strength provides a more detailed description. While these variables have been studied in the dominant and non-dominant legs of young soccer players (Kellis et al., 2001), no direct comparisons have been made between trained and untrained individuals in order to elucidate the effects of soccer involvement on the bilateral strength profiles of the knee musculature. The aim of this investigation was therefore to compare the bilateral isokinetic strength characteristics of the knees flexor and extensor muscles in trained junior soccer players to an untrained control group.
