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.