A Comparison of Knee Kinetics between Male and Female Recreational Athletes in Stop-Jump Tasks

Abstract

We compared the knee kinetics of 10 male and 10 female recreational athletes (aged 19 to 25 years) performing forward, vertical, and backward stop-jump tasks. Three-dimensional videography and force plate data were used to record the subjects' performance of the three stop-jump tasks, and an inverse dynamic procedure was used to estimate the knee joint resultant forces and moments. Women exhibited greater proximal anterior shear force than did men during the landing phase. All subjects exhibited greater proximal tibia anterior shear force during the landing phase of the backward stop-jump task than during the other two stop-jump tasks. Women also exhibited greater knee extension and valgus moments than did men during the landing phase of each stop-jump task. Men exhibited greater proximal tibia anterior shear force than did women during the takeoff phase of vertical and backward stop-jump tasks. These results indicate that female recreational athletes may have altered motor control strategies that result in knee positions in which anterior cruciate ligament injuries may occur. The landing phase was more stressful for the anterior cruciate ligament of both women and men than the takeoff phase in all stop-jump tasks. Technical training for female athletes may need to be focused on reducing the peak proximal tibia anterior shear force in stop-jump tasks. Further studies are needed to determine the factors associated with the increased peak proximal tibia anterior shear force in female recreational athletes.

A Musculoskeletal Profile of Elite Female Soccer Players

“…Soccer-specific motions such as planting and pivoting, deceleration, and landing from a jump have all been identified as mechanisms of noncontact ACL injuries [1]. Recent studies have shown gender differences in lower-extremity kinematics and kinetics in athletic tasks [1,2]. Numerous authors have identified valgus collapse of the knee as the common body position in noncontact ACL injuries [26][27][28].…”

“…It has been recognized that collegiate and high school female soccer athletes are at a greater risk for tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) as compared to their male counterparts. Numerous papers have established that women cut and land with their knees in valgus, placing their knees at risk for injury [1][2][3][4]. Descriptive data exist for physical characteristics of elite male soccer players [5][6][7]; however, there is no published information regarding the musculoskeletal characteristics of elite female soccer players.…”

Sagittal plane biomechanics cannot injure the ACL during sidestep cutting

“…Sagittal plane mechanisms for non-contact ACL in jury have been proposed previously for sports move ments (Chappell et al, 2002;DeMorat et al, 2004;Griffin et al, 2000). Such postulates are based on the fact that the landing phase of these movements typically incorporates large quadriceps force at relatively small flexion angles, a combination known to induce anterior force on the tibia (Durselen et al, 1995;Pandy and Shel bourne, 1997).…”

“…Such postulates are based on the fact that the landing phase of these movements typically incorporates large quadriceps force at relatively small flexion angles, a combination known to induce anterior force on the tibia (Durselen et al, 1995;Pandy and Shel bourne, 1997). Women are often observed to perform these movements with less knee flexion than males (Chappell et al, 2002;Malinzak et al, 2001), which is thus viewed as a likely contributor to their increased risk of ACL injury (Colby et al, 2000;Griffin et al, 2000;Lephart et al, 2002). The neuromuscular control and strength ratio of the hamstrings and quadriceps are also viewed as important components of a sagittal plane in jury mechanism (Colby et al, 2000;Griffin et al, 2000).…”

Recent advances following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: rehabilitation perspectives

“…Single limb balance can be progressed by time or numbers of repetitions of the contralateral extremity movements. These balance exercises can be progressed by having the athlete perform balance techniques in increasing degrees of knee flexion which may also have a protective effect as activities in knee flexion may limit exposure to excessive anterior tibial shear loads that may overload graft tissue while performance of dynamic tasks [88][89][90]. Increased progression of single limb balance can include balance with eyes closed, progressing to the entire balance sequence being done on a labile surface.…”