Citation

Pollard CD, Sigward SM, Ota S, Langford K, Powers CM. Clin. J. Sport. Med. 2006; 16(3): 223-227.

Affiliation

Department of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16778542

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of in-season injury prevention training on hip and knee kinematics during a landing task. DESIGN: Longitudinal pre-post intervention study. SETTING: Testing sessions were conducted in a biomechanics research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen female soccer players between the ages of 14 and 17 participated in this study. All subjects were healthy with no current complaints of lower extremity injury. INTERVENTIONS: Testing sessions were conducted prior to and following a season of soccer practice combined with injury prevention training. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: During each testing session three-dimensional kinematics were collected while each subject performed a drop landing task. Peak hip and knee joint angles were measured during the early deceleration phase of landing and compared between pre- and post-training using paired t-tests. RESULTS: Following a season of soccer practice combined with injury prevention training, females demonstrated significantly less hip internal rotation (7.1 degrees vs. 1.9 degrees ; P=0.01) and significantly greater hip abduction (-4.9 degrees vs. -7.7 degrees ; P=0.02). No differences in knee valgus or knee flexion angles were found post-season. CONCLUSIONS: Female soccer players exhibited significant changes in hip kinematics during a landing task following in-season injury prevention training. Our results support the premise that a season of soccer practice combined with injury prevention training is effective in altering lower extremity motions that may play a role in predisposing females to ACL injury.

Language: en