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Last Updated:
Aug 12th, 2006 - 16:06:38
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The one injury that female athletes dread is rupturing their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). I’ve seen it many times, the player grabs a pass, goes to pivot, the foot is planted, her knee twists, and she falls to the ground grabbing her knee. This injury was once career ending, but with advances in surgical medicine, athletes can continue to perform at high levels even after ACL repair. A good example is Megan Duffy, who tore her ACL while play ball at Chaminade-Julienne. Megan recovered from her injury and went on to play college ball for Notre Dame and professionally with the Minnesota Lynx. Research indicates that women are 2 to 8 times more vulnerable to ACL injuries then men. There are many studies and a lot of speculation on the actual cause for the increase in ACL injuries for women versus men. The current focus is on the differences in biomechanics, neuromuscular make-up, and coaching skills between males and females. Research indicates that 60 percent of all ACL injuries happen when the female lands from a jumping action. Here are three steps that can reduce the risk of an ACL injury. The first step is to train and condition year-round on skill drills, strength, and flexibility exercises. This type of conditioning is known as periodization training. Second, females tend to use their knee ligaments more for stability than their hamstring and quadriceps as males do. To correct this, females should incorporate stretching and strengthening drills for hamstring and quadriceps muscles on regular basis. Finally, females tend to hold a more up right posture when cutting and jumping than males. An up right posture along with weak thigh muscles allows the knee to turn inwards as the foot is pointing outwards all while the torso is falling forwards. To correct this, females should practice proper jumping and landing techniques. It is important to get physicians approval before starting any conditioning program and receive proper training from a certified strength conditioning coach who has a college degree in an exercise related field of study. For more information on preventing knee injuries in all sports see other articles and links at www.xcelsportsmedicine.com.
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