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Objective: Aim of this study was to examine the effects of manual therapy techniques used in athletes on performance and recovery.
Material and Methods: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched to identify studies evaluating the effect of manual therapy techniques on performance and/or recovery measures on athletes. The search was performed by combining the determined keywords with appropriate combinations. In our study, studies from 2010 to the present were examined.
Results: We identified 12 eligible studies examining the effects of manual therapy. Techniques used for manual therapy in athletes in the included studies; sports massage, muscle energy technique, thai massage, spinal manipulation, Swedish massage and deep transverse friction massage. There were 5 studies showing that manual therapy applied without using any assistive device in performance and recovery measurements had a positive effect on recovery, 1 study showing a negative effect, and 6 studies showing no effect.
Conclusion: As a result of the review, no clear evidence was found to justify the inclusion of manual therapy used in athletes in terms of direct improvement of performance and/or positive effects on recovery.