Context of the Problem: Football (FB) has the highest injury rates of all collegiate sports injury surveillance studies estimated collegiate football has an injury rate of 9.7 per 1000 athlete exposures (AE). There are typically 80 to 100 FB players per collegiate football team, and with limited resources it may be difficult for athletic trainers (ATs) to identify all those who may be at risk of injury in the preseason. There are limited tests in football that examine upper body risk and use baseline measurements for return to play. The tests that exist in the research for the upper body, do not use allometric scaling to adjust for body size. The Y-Balance Test uses arm length to normalize composite score data. This functional test has been proposed to identify athletes with dysfunctional movement, pain or limited reach in one of the three directions. If this test is associated with increased risk, ATs may be able to identify those at risk, implement established injury prevention programs, and have a more reliable and quantifiable return to play tool. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the Y-Balance Test upper quarter composite scores, risk factors, and normative data. Design: Prospective & Cross-sectional design. Setting: Two Northeast United States National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) FB teams. Participants: Eighty male collegiate FB players with an age range of 18 to 23, and a mean age of 19.5. Main Outcome Measure(s): The Y-Balance Test upper quarter (YBT-UQ) was initiated during the 2018 preseason. The variables consisted of height, weight, age dominant arm, and in-season injury were also recorded. Results: In this sample population the YBT-UQ average composite scores (ACS) identified FB players at risk of an in-season upper body injury sensitivity 84%, specificity 68.7%, p < 0.001. Reach distance differences/asymmetries were not able to to identify at risk FB players, area under the curve 0.367. The mean ACS for those who suffered upper body musculoskeletal injury was 80.1%. The reach distance differences mean for all in-season injury was 4.03 cm and for no in-season injury was 4.13 cm. Individual composite score reaches were not associated with in-season upper body injury. There was a high correlation between individual right-to-left composite scores. Conclusion: Right and Left CS were similar and may be considered to compare the contralateral side. ACS were able to identify FB players at risk for an in-season upper body injury in this population.
