A STUDY OF THE ISOMETRIC CERVICAL EXTENSION STRENGTH OF COLLEGE AMERICAN FOOTBALL PLAYERS

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare isometric cervical extension strength (extension strength) of college American football players belonging to different level leagues at the eight cervical positions measured by a cervical extension machine (Medx Inc.) and give some suggestions for preventing neck injuries. The subjects were American football players at N University (n=41) belonging to the first-level league and at G University (n=32) belonging to the third-level league. The findings were as follows.1. The isometric cervical extension strength/body weight of players at N University was sig-nificantly higher than that of G University at 72 degree , 54 degree and 36 degree (a neutral cervical position) .2. The extension strength/body weight of the linemen at N University was significantly higher at 108 degree , 54 degree and 36 degree than that of the linemen at G University. While there were no significant differences between universities in the eight cervical positions of back players herein referred to as'backs'.In conclusion, it was shown that there were significant differences in the extension strength and the extension strength/body weight between teams of different levels. The differences tended to be larger between the linemen than between the backs. Therefore, it was suggested that the evaluation of neck muscle strength was important for preventing neck injuries especially caused by a mismatch of players at different performance levels.