Many athletic movements, such as running, jumping, and cutting are inherently unstable and require neuromuscular control to maintain stability and improve performance. A system with poor neuromuscular stability cannot be controlled properly and at some point, will become unstable. Consequently, impaired ‘core’ proprioception may lead to impaired neuromuscular control of the hips, which in turn affects control of the knee and may lead to injury.
The greatest ACL strain occurs with a combined loading pattern consisting of frontal and transverse plane joint movements with coupled anterior tibial shear. This can be simplified by describing the mechanism of injury for a non-contact ACL tear as planting the foot into the ground while rotating the upper body. While many non-contact knee injuries (ACL most predominately) are thought to be the result of poor body awareness &/or impaired motor control, many different proactive approaches have been researched. Most notably, the Sportsmetrics program was the first and largest ACL prevention program scientifically proven to decrease serious knee ligament injuries in female athletes. A combination of jump & strength training, agility testing, and continued education & screening provides a great tool to ensure adequate steps are being taken to maximize injury prevention.
In an article originally published in 2015, and then reviewed & revisited in 2018, 1,000 female high school athletes were chosen to perform a 6-week progressive ACL-prevention program including pre/post-video assessment, strength & jump training as well as agility training. Individuals within this program were then compared to 1,120 athletes of the same demographics as a ‘control’ group. Video analysis was recorded looking at vertical jump height, Q-angle & left/right symmetry, all of which had previously been noted to be a potential risk factor for sustaining a non-contact ACL injury. The major finding of this article was that the Sportsmetrics neuromuscular retraining program both significantly decreased the incidence of non-contact ACL injuries while improving overall athletic performance indicators.
Based off this article and the numerous others that have followed suit, it is safe to conclude performing a progressive jump training protocol focused on body mechanics and awareness will only help to reduce the change of sustaining a significant ligamentous knee injury. With that in mind, is should be incorporated into every adolescent athletic pre-season training.
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Source:
Noyes FR, Barber-Westin SD. Neuromuscular Retraining in Female Adolescent Athletes: Effect on Athletic Performance Indices and Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Rates. Sports. 2015; 3(2):56-76.
Noyes, F.R., Barber-Westin, S. (2018). Sportsmetrics ACL Intervention Training Program: Components and Results. In: Noyes, F., Barber-Westin, S. (eds) ACL Injuries in the Female Athlete. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
