Player adherence to SHRed injuries Basketball neuromuscular training warm‐up program: Can exercise fidelity be objectively measured?

Neuromuscular training (NMT) warm‐up programs are effective in reducing injury rates in youth team sports, including basketball, with greater adherence improving their effectiveness in preventing injuries in sport. To understand player adherence to a SHRed Injuries Basketball NMT (SIB NMT) warm‐up, we developed and utilized an observational tool to assess NMT exercise fidelity and compared exercise fidelity in boys and girls. Reliable methods for use of the SHRED Injuries Basketball Observation Tool (SIB OT) were established through two rounds of training. The percent agreement between raters was 66.09% for round one and 68.63% for round two. Sixty‐six youth basketball players (20 male and 46 female; median age 16) performing the SIB NMT were filmed. Exercise fidelity was assessed from video clips using the SIB OT. Overall exercise fidelity scores were based on total score achieved/total score attempted x100. The mean exercise fidelity score for boys [x ̅ = 57.35% (95% CI 53%‐62%)] was lower than for girls [x ̅ = 65.51% (95% CI; 62%‐69%)] (t = −2.88, P = .0027). Future research should focus on implementation strategies to improve exercise fidelity for NMT warm‐up programs in youth sport and further examine the impact of exercise fidelity on the preventative effect of NMT warm‐ups in youth sport.