Neuromuscular training for the prevention of ankle sprains in female athletes: a systematic review.

Ankle sprains happen more often in female athletes than male athletes, so researchers wanted to know whether neuromuscular training programs, which combine things like balance, strength, plyometric, and agility work, can help reduce that risk specifically in women and girls. This systematic review pulled together seven studies covering over 5,000 female athletes across sports including basketball, soccer, volleyball, handball, and floorball, comparing athletes who did these training programs against those who did not. The picture that emerged was mixed but leaning positive: two studies found statistically significant reductions in ankle sprains, particularly for non-contact injuries, while the other five showed a trend in the same direction without reaching statistical significance. The authors suggest that programs combining multiple training elements may be more effective, but this comes from comparing study designs rather than a direct head-to-head test.

The main limitation is that most individual studies did not show statistically significant effects, so the evidence, while encouraging in direction, remains inconsistent across the body of research.

If you're a female athlete, you may already know that ankle sprains are a common and frustrating injury, and that women tend to experience them more often than men. This review looked at whether training programs focused on balance, strength, and movement control could lower that risk, pulling together results from seven studies involving over 5,000 female athletes in sports like basketball, soccer, and volleyball. The results were promising but not conclusive.

Two of the seven studies showed a statistically meaningful reduction in ankle sprains with these training programs, especially sprains that happen without contact from another player. The other five studies showed a trend in the same direction, but it wasn't strong enough to be confident it wasn't due to chance. This doesn't mean the training doesn't work, it means the evidence so far is mixed, with most studies pointing the same way but not firmly proving it.

The authors note that programs combining several types of training together seemed associated with the clearer results, though this comes from comparing different studies rather than testing combinations directly.

This is a summary of research, not medical advice. Talk to your own healthcare provider about anything affecting your care.

This review addresses a specific clinical question: whether neuromuscular training programs effectively reduce ankle sprain incidence in female athletes specifically, rather than relying on evidence from mixed-sex or male-only cohorts. It pooled seven studies totaling 5,187 female athletes across basketball, handball, volleyball, soccer, and floorball, comparing those who underwent neuromuscular training against non-training controls. Of the seven included studies, only two reported statistically significant reductions in ankle sprains, with the largest effects noted for non-contact injuries; this isolated pattern across a minority of studies warrants caution against overinterpreting it as a robust effect.

The remaining five studies showed a directional trend toward benefit without reaching statistical significance, meaning no clear effect was detected in those individual studies even though the pattern was consistent. The authors note that the studies with significant findings used comprehensive programs incorporating strength, balance, plyometric, and agility components, but this observation stems from comparing study designs rather than a controlled test of combined versus single-component training, so it should be treated as hypothesis-generating rather than established. The review does not report the specific study designs, risk of bias assessment, or heterogeneity statistics for the included studies, which limits judgments about the overall certainty of the evidence.

It also does not establish sport-specific or population-specific effectiveness, which the authors themselves flag as needing further investigation.