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Functional Movement Screen (FMS): Can It Really Prevent Sports Injuries?
Did you know that most sports medicine still focuses on treating injuries after they occur, rather than preventing them in the first place? Imagine how much better athletes could perform—and how many seasons could be saved—if injuries were reduced before they ever happened. That’s why injury prevention screening tools have gained popularity in both clinics and gyms. One of the most well-known tools is the Functional Movement Screen (FMS). You may have seen athletes performing deep squats, lunges, or hurdle steps while being scored. But the question remains: does the FMS actually help prevent injuries?
What Is the Functional Movement Screen (FMS)?
The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a standardized screening tool made up of seven movement tests. These assess dysfunctional patterns, asymmetries, and overall movement quality by looking at the interaction of strength, flexibility, mobility, balance, coordination, and proprioception. The tests include movements like the deep squat, hurdle step, in-line lunge, shoulder mobility, active straight-leg raise, trunk stability push-up, and rotary stability.
Each movement is scored from 0 to 3, producing both individual scores and a composite total. The assessment highlights compensatory strategies and left-right differences that may place athletes at higher risk of injury. Coaches, athletic trainers, and clinicians often use FMS scores to design corrective exercise programs aimed at improving movement efficiency. While the tool demonstrates high reliability and strong “face validity,” its actual accuracy in predicting injuries remains debated.
Does the FMS Really Prevent Injuries?
Research on the FMS provides mixed evidence. Several studies have reported that athletes with low composite scores (≤14) face significantly higher risk of injury, with odds ratios ranging from 1.25 to 10.42. This suggests that poor movement quality may indeed be linked to greater injury susceptibility.
However, the predictive accuracy of the FMS is less convincing. Sensitivity rates (ability to correctly identify those who will get injured) range from only 28% to 63%, while specificity (correctly identifying those who won’t get injured) is often below 50%. In other words, the FMS alone cannot reliably determine who will or won’t get hurt.
That said, the tool does have strengths. It shows excellent inter-rater and intra-rater reliability (ICC = 0.81), meaning different professionals tend to score athletes consistently (Bonazza et al., 2017). Some research also suggests that individual test asymmetries or a score of 1 on specific movements may be better predictors of injury than the overall composite score. Importantly, targeted interventions based on FMS findings have been shown to improve movement patterns and reduce injury rates in athletes.
Conclusion
So, does the FMS prevent injuries? The evidence shows that while the FMS is not a crystal ball for predicting every injury, it can be a valuable tool for identifying poor movement patterns and guiding corrective training. Low scores and asymmetries highlight potential red flags that coaches and therapists can address through targeted exercises.
Athletes and professionals should view the FMS not as a standalone injury predictor, but as part of a comprehensive assessment strategy that includes strength testing, workload monitoring, and individualized conditioning. Used wisely, the FMS can help athletes improve movement quality, lower injury risk, and maximize performance over the long term.
< Reference >
- Vehrs, Pat R., Martina Uvacsek, and Aaron W. Johnson. “Assessment of Dysfunctional Movements and Asymmetries in Children and Adolescents Using the Functional Movement Screen—A Narrative Review.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 23 (2021): 12501. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312501.
- Warren, Meghan, Monica Lininger, Nicole Chimera, and Craig Smith. “Utility of FMS to Understand Injury Incidence in Sports: Current Perspectives.” Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine Volume 9 (September 2018): 171–82. https://doi.org/10.2147/OAJSM.S149139.
- Dorrel, Bryan, Terry Long, Scott Shaffer, and Gregory D. Myer. “The Functional Movement Screen as a Predictor of Injury in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Athletes.” Journal of Athletic Training 53, no. 1 (2018): 29–34. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-528-15.
- Duke, Sean R., Steve E. Martin, and Catherine A. Gaul. “Preseason Functional Movement Screen Predicts Risk of Time-Loss Injury in Experienced Male Rugby Union Athletes.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 31, no. 10 (2017): 2740–47. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001838.
- Bushman, Timothy T., Tyson L. Grier, Michelle Canham-Chervak, Morgan K. Anderson, William J. North, and Bruce H. Jones. “The Functional Movement Screen and Injury Risk: Association and Predictive Value in Active Men.” The American Journal of Sports Medicine 44, no. 2 (2016): 297–304. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546515614815.
- Bonazza, Nicholas A., Dallas Smuin, Cayce A. Onks, Matthew L. Silvis, and Aman Dhawan. “Reliability, Validity, and Injury Predictive Value of the Functional Movement Screen: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” The American Journal of Sports Medicine 45, no. 3 (2017): 725–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546516641937.
- Mokha, Monique, Peter A. Sprague, and Dustin R. Gatens. “Predicting Musculoskeletal Injury in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Athletes From Asymmetries and Individual-Test Versus Composite Functional Movement Screen Scores.” Journal of Athletic Training 51, no. 4 (2016): 276–82. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-51.2.07.
- Dinc, Engin, Bekir Eray Kilinc, Muge Bulat, Yunus Turgay Erten, and Bülent Bayraktar. “Effects of Special Exercise Programs on Functional Movement Screen Scores and Injury Prevention in Preprofessional Young Football Players.” Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation 13, no. 5 (2017): 535–40. https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.1735068.534.
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