Comparison of the Immediate Effects of Physiotherapist and Self-administered Myofascial Release Techniques on Flexibility and Jumping Ability in Basketball Players

Basketball is an aerobic-based anaerobic sport that calls for both high-intensity movements like jumping (for rebounds, blocks, and shots), spins, dribbling, sprinting, and screening and low-intensity movements like walking, stopping, and running.This sport requires sudden and fast movements where jumping performance is often a decisive factor for sporting success and Whether crouching in a defensive situation or throwing a long pass, a player needs to have a sufficient level of flexibility for adequate efficiency. Fascia connects the structures of the body with muscles, nerves and blood vessels. Limitations may occur due to injury. These limitations can reduce flexibility, strength, endurance and coordination.Therefore, this study aims to compare the acute effects of manual and self-myofascial release on flexibility and jump performance in basketball players. The secondary aim was to examine the acute improvements in flexibility and jump performance after myofascial therapy.

Basketball is a sport that changes very fast and quickly on the court and involves being always ready and mobile to pass, shoot, dribble or rebound. Some performance-related physical fitness parameters of basketball are: speed, flexibility, endurance, body composition, strength, agility, coordination. Some performance-related physical fitness parameters of basketball are: speed, flexibility, endurance, body composition, strength, agility, coordination.As a result of the high thrust forces generated during jumping and the eccentric forces applied to the lower body during landing, these athletes place great stress on their ankles and knees and require a high degree of force application and the ability to safely control eccentric landing forces.These functional changes are mainly controlled by the lower limbs, but lower limb control is influenced by range of motion, which affects flexibility when strength is reduced." It is easy to see why flexibility is so important for effective basketball sport efficiency.Flexibility is important in both prevention and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injuries. When looking at sports performance, the hamstring and gastrocnemius muscles have a fundamental role in the myofascial chain defined by Myers. Myofascial release is a series of manual therapy techniques that involve applying pressure to soft tissue (fascia) to achieve structural and mechanical adaptation.The therapist applies a continuous, slow and steady pressure on the restricted tissue barrier and when the tissue relaxes, a new tissue barrier is applied.While continuous pressure applied to fascia tissue is called direct treatment and traction applied is called indirect treatment, another treatment method is self-myofascial release. Self-Myofascial Release (SMR) is performed by applying pressure on restricted fascia tissue using various materials and one's own body weight in different body positions. The material used can be foam roller, vibrating foam roller.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* 15 to 45 years of age,
* gastrocnemius and hamstring muscle injuries. absence of pes planus and plantar heel pain

Exclusion Criteria:

* presence of a disease in which manual application cannot be performed (tumour, fracture, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, severe vascular disease, etc.),
* history of surgery in the lower extremity in the last 6 months,
* diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome,
* chronic pain