Effect of a Visual Dual-Task on Single-Leg Countermovement-Jump in Male Professional Soccer Players with Lower-Limb Injuries: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study

Abstract

Background: Participation in soccer imposes high physical, mechanical, and cognitive demands. Recent evidence suggests that cognitive load, often overlooked in injury prevention, interacts with biomechanical factors and injury risk, resembling a dual-task paradigm where players must adapt motor responses while processing unpredictable game situations. This cross-sectional observational study examined how adding a dual-task during single-leg countermovement-jumps (SLCMJ) affects neuromotor control and performance in elite soccer players. Methods: Players performed SLCMJ on the injured leg while muscle activation, kinematics, and kinetics were measured, with and without a dual-task requiring color identification, via repeated-measures ANOVA; three injured groups (Chondropathy, n = 10, ACL, n = 15, Muscle Injury, n = 15) and a healthy control group (n = 22, followed the same protocol during final-rehabilitation stage. Results: Specific main outcomes were kinetics, kinematics, and EMG variables. Kinetic performances were significantly higher (p < 0.001, d > 0.6) with dual-task: eccentric rate-of-force-development, jump-height, reactive-strength-index-modified, and shorter for time-to-peak of ground-reaction-force (p < 0.05, d > 0.6). Muscle activation increased with dual-task in rectus femoris and biceps femoris during pushing (eccentric and concentric phases) (p < 0.01, d = 0.7) and for medial gastrocnemius during landing (p < 0.05, d = 0.7). Kinematic analyses showed greater pushing knee flexion, while pushing and landing trunk flexion was lower (p < 0.01, d > 0.8). Kinetic values in the three injured groups were lower than those of controls (p < 0.01, d > 0.8). Conclusions: Injured elite soccer players appeared disinhibited in dual-task conditions that improved SLCMJ performance but altered neuromotor control, underscoring the importance of a neurocognitive approach in return-to-play assessments to evaluate reinjury risk.