This randomized controlled trial evaluated whether pairing the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA 11+) training program with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) produced greater neuromuscular and performance benefits than the FIFA 11+ program with sham stimulation in male high school soccer players. The primary domains examined were proprioception, muscle strength, balance, power, and agility.
Sixty male high school soccer players were enrolled and randomized into two equal groups. The experimental group (n=30) received the FIFA 11+ program combined with active tDCS, while the comparison group (n=30) received the FIFA 11+ program with sham stimulation. The trial is described as a randomized controlled trial in the published abstract.
Both study arms completed the FIFA 11+ training protocol for 20 minutes per session and received 20 minutes of stimulation (active or sham) per session. Sessions were conducted three times weekly over an eight-week period. The abstract does not report specific tDCS parameters (for example, current intensity, electrode montage, or polarity) or details about adherence beyond session frequency and duration.
The investigators assessed multiple neuromuscular and performance outcomes before and after the 8-week intervention period:
These outcome measures target domains relevant to injury prevention and athletic performance in soccer.
Both the experimental group (FIFA 11+ plus tDCS) and the comparison group (FIFA 11+ plus sham) demonstrated statistically significant improvements from baseline to post-intervention across the assessed domains. Specifically, both groups showed significant gains in proprioceptive sensation, muscle strength, static balance, dynamic balance, power, and agility (P<0.05 for within-group changes).
When outcomes were compared between groups, the experimental group that received tDCS in addition to FIFA 11+ achieved significantly greater improvements than the FIFA 11+ plus sham group across all measured domains. The abstract reports statistically significant between-group differences favoring the combined intervention for proprioception, muscle strength, static balance, dynamic balance, power, and agility (all P<0.05).
The authors conclude that combining tDCS with the FIFA 11+ program produced larger improvements in neuromuscular function and athletic performance than the FIFA 11+ program alone in this sample of male high school soccer players. These findings suggest that adding neuromodulation to an established injury-prevention and conditioning program may enhance outcomes in proprioception, strength, balance, power, and agility relevant to soccer performance.
The trial was registered with the Clinical Research Information Service (KCT0011079). The study is presented in Med Sci Monit (PMID: 42768732; DOI: 10.12659/MSM.953501) and is described as a randomized controlled trial in the abstract.
The abstract does not provide several details that are important for interpretation and translation to practice. Not reported in the abstract were: specific tDCS stimulation parameters (current intensity, electrode placement, polarity), adverse events or tolerability data, baseline participant characteristics beyond sex and grouping, exact numerical outcome values and effect sizes, statistical methods beyond reporting significance (P values), or any longer-term follow-up to determine persistence of effects. The source text does not report these details, so they cannot be summarized here.
Summary
In a randomized trial of 60 male high school soccer players, both FIFA 11+ training with sham and FIFA 11+ combined with tDCS produced significant within-group gains in proprioception, strength, balance, power, and agility. Adding active tDCS to FIFA 11+ yielded significantly larger improvements across these domains compared with FIFA 11+ alone (all reported P<0.05). The abstract supports the potential of combining neuromodulation with structured prevention/training programs to enhance neuromuscular and performance outcomes, while noting that key methodological and safety details were not provided in the abstract.