Comparing lab and field agility kinematics in young talented female football players: Implications for ACL injury prevention

Abstract

Modifiable (biomechanical and neuromuscular) anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk factors have been identified in laboratory settings. These risk factors were subsequently used in ACL injury prevention measures. Due to the lack of ecological validity, the use of on-field data in the ACL injury risk screening is increasingly advocated. Though, the kinematic differences between laboratory and on-field settings have never been investigated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the lower-limb kinematics of female footballers during agility movements performed both in laboratory and football field environments. Twenty-eight healthy young female talented football (soccer) players (14.9 ± 0.9 years) participated. Lower-limb joint kinematics was collected through wearable inertial sensors (Xsens Link) in three conditions: (1) laboratory setting during unanticipated sidestep cutting at 40-50°; on the football pitch (2) football-specific exercises (F-EX) and (3) football games (F-GAME). A hierarchical two-level random effect model in Statistical Parametric Mapping was used to compare joint kinematics among the conditions. Waveform consistency was investigated through Pearson's correlation coefficient and standardized z-score vector. In-lab kinematics differed from the on-field ones, while the latter were similar in overall shape and peaks. Lower sagittal plane range of motion, greater ankle eversion, and pelvic rotation were found for on-field kinematics (p < 0.044). The largest differences were found during landing and weight acceptance. The biomechanical differences between lab and field settings suggest the application of context-related adaptations in female footballers and have implications in ACL injury prevention strategies. Highlights. Talented youth female football players showed kinematical differences between the lab condition and the on-field ones, thus adopting a context-related motor strategy. . Lower sagittal plane range of motion, greater ankle eversion, and pelvic rotation were found on the field. Such differences pertain to the ACL injury mechanism and prevention strategies. . Preventative training should support the adoption of non-linear motor learning to stimulate greater self-organization and adaptability. . It is recommended to test football players in an ecological environment to improve subsequent primary ACL injury prevention programmes.

Reduced Vastus Medialis/Lateralis EMG Ratio in Volleyballers with Chronic Knee Pain on Sports-Specific Surfaces: A Pilot Study

“…Recent research indicates that in-lab kinematics can differ greatly from in-field kinematics ( p < 0.044). It is not clear if those differences are also applicable to neuromuscular activity [ 40 ]. This includes applicability for jump tasks and surfaces.…”

“…The current literature indicates that those data might not be applicable, since the VM/VL ratio might decrease with increasing demand on movement tasks in normalized [ 33 , 38 , 39 ] and non-normalized data [ 38 ]. Further studies prove that neuromuscular and biomechanical adaptations occur on different surfaces [ 40 , 41 , 42 ]. Those surfaces influence the rate of overuse injuries [ 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”

On-Field Biomechanical Assessment of High and Low Dive in Competitive 16-Year-Old Goalkeepers through Wearable Sensors and Principal Component Analysis

“…Future studies assessing the concurrent validity of a limited number of sensors against a full-body setup might provide valuable information and practical implications on this topic. Through a simplified setup, the adoption of quantitative assessment in an ecological environment might be broader and more user-friendly, as for other outdoor applications [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. The present study results might suggest that a limited number of sensors aiming to capture only hip, pelvis and trunk kinematics, specifically in the first part of the dive, might be necessary to explain most of the differences between PS and nPS dive techniques.…”

“…The assessment of diving characteristics through an ecological dynamics approach coupled with data dimensionality reduction might help to describe and quantify the biomechanical features associated with diving-side preferences. Previous studies investigated on-field biomechanics of outfield football players during sport-specific activities, such as agility tasks and side-games, and put movement characteristics (also extracted through PCA dimensionality reduction) in relation to players’ coordinative abilities, training load, fatigue, and lower-limb injury risk [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”

Reliability of wearable sensors-based parameters for the assessment of knee stability

“…Either single- or multi-sensor approaches were adopted in the literature and different motor tasks were considered, from single leg squat [ 21 – 25 ], to drop landing/jumping or hopping [ 26 – 31 ] or side cutting manoeuvres [ 32 – 34 ]. Several parameters were also proposed, according to the adopted experimental protocol and to the final aim of the study: from knee joint kinematics and kinetics [ 31 , 34 – 36 ] to linear/angular velocity of both leg and thigh [ 25 – 27 ]. Few studies, though, focused on the assessment of the knee stability [ 23 , 24 ].…”