METHODS: This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, and the researchers performed a systematic search of five international electronic databases using the predefined terms "functional training" and "athletes" on 15th November 2023: Web of Science, CINAHL PLUS, PubMed, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus. A PICOS approach was used to identify the following inclusion criteria: (1) athletes, (2) a functional training program, (3) an active control group, (4) a measure of physical and/or technical performance, and (5) randomized controlled studies. A methodological quality assessment of the original research was conducted using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (Pedro) scale. The review was performed using the PRIMSA guidelines and registered in PROSPERO (ID: CRD42022347943).
RESULTS: Of the 1059 potentially eligible studies identified, 28 studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies included were conducted on 819 athletes from 12 different countries and were published between 2011 and 2023. The assessment was performed on the Pedro scale, and the mean Pedro score for the included studies was 5.57 (moderate quality, ranging from 4 to 10). The eligibility study reported on 14 different types of sports, with 22 studies focusing on physical performance and 11 studies focusing on technical performance. These studies have shown that functional training can significantly improve the physical and technical performance of athlete populations, but in some studies, no significant difference in the data was observed between groups.
CONCLUSION: Functional training is an effective training method for enhancing the physical and technical performance of athlete populations. However, no significant difference in the data was observed between the functional training groups and the regular training group, which may be due to the duration of the training program, the different training experiences of the athletes, and the different focuses of the training regimens. Therefore, future studies should focus on the physical and technical performance of different sports groups with different types and durations of functional training programs to expand the current evidence base.
METHODS: Forty skilled youth male tennis players were assigned to the functional training group (n = 20) or the control training group (n = 20). The control group received a traditional resistance training program by their coach, whereas the functional training group was given Santana's Racket Sports Program. Each group received 60-minute training sessions three times per week for 12 weeks. At baseline (T0), after six weeks (T6), and after 12 weeks (T12), the participants' skill performance was measured according to the International Tennis Federation's protocol, and movement quality was measured according to the functional movement screening assessment recommended by Gray Cook. The data were analyzed via a generalized estimation equation model.
RESULTS: The results revealed that there were no significant differences in skill performance or movement quality between the groups at baseline (p > 0.05), but there were significant differences in those variables between the groups after 6 weeks of the intervention and 12 weeks of the intervention (p