Comparison of strength ratio of agonist and antagonist muscles and hip range of motion in volleyball players and non-athletes

Muscle weakness or muscle imbalance is one of the causes of sports injuries. Since volleyball is an activity with a lot of jumping and landing with one foot, in this study aimed to discuss the comparison of strength ratio of agonist to antagonist muscles and range of motion of the hip in volleyball players and non-athletes.
30 female volleyball players with mean age 21.40±2.58 years and 30 female non-athletes with mean age 22.63±1.13 years were selected. Manual Muscle Test (MMT) and flexibility Leighton gauge were used for measuring the muscles strength and the range of motion of hip respectively. After determining the normal distribution of data, T-test was used to analyze the data. The significance level was considered at p≤0.05.
the results showed the significant differences in ratio of internal to external rotators (p=0.005) and also extensor to flexors (p=0.001) muscles in both dominant and non-dominant legs. Moreover, the comparison between dominant and non-dominant legs between groups, only the ratio of internal to external rotator muscles was significant (p=0.005). The differences between range of motion of dominant and non-dominant legs in flexion (p=0.006) and external rotation (p=0.026) was significant that it was lower in dominant leg than the non-dominant one.
The results showed, the use of dominant leg in volleyball, can lead to an imbalance of muscle strength and range of motion in the hip between two limbs that could lead to create damage to the joints of the lower extremities. So, in order to prevent imbalance, applying the same training on the both limbs in athletes, can be recommended.