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Correlation Between Functional Movement Quality, Pain, and Fundamental Physical Fitness Performance in Elite Female Softball Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Author(s)

Aoen Wen, Chuyang Wu*

Affiliation(s)

Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology, Zhaoqing, Guangdong, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study conducted functional movement screen, body pain assessment, and fundamental physical fitness testing on 30 elite female softball athletes to explore the relationships among these indicators, thereby providing a basis for athlete condition diagnosis and targeted training. The testing content included shoulder mobility, ankle mobility, deep squat, active straight leg raise, as well as standing long jump, 30 m sprint, 3000 m run, bench press (1RM), relative strength, and inverted row. Six pain sites and a total pain index were recorded. Spearman correlation analysis showed that ankle mobility was positively correlated with deep squat scores (r=0.562, p<0.001). A total of 27 pain reports were recorded, and the total pain index was negatively correlated with shoulder mobility and deep squat scores (r=-0.421, -0.387, p<0.05). Standing long jump was negatively correlated with 30 m sprint time (r=-0.563, p<0.001), and 3000 m run time was positively correlated with 30 m sprint time (r=0.593, p<0.001). Among FMS indicators and physical fitness performance, only the shoulder score was correlated with bench press performance (ρ=0.446, p=0.029). These results indicate that ankle joint function in female softball athletes is closely related to key lower-limb movement patterns, and pain is associated with declines in certain movement qualities. The overall correlation between FMS and physical fitness performance is relatively weak, suggesting that they should be jointly applied for training monitoring and risk screening.

Keywords

Softball; FMS; Pain Assessment; Physical Fitness; Correlation

References

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