Thursday

Sharon benching triple digits Wednesday evening.

ACL Injury Risk and Prevention

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is unfortunately fairly prevalent among field and court athletes. Females athletes suffer ACL injuries at a rate 8-10 times that of their male counters. In fact, last year at a local high school, three female basketball players suffered ACL injuries in one season, all requiring reconstructive surgery.

Why are ACL injuries so prevalent, especially in females? There are many factors that come into play, but researchers have identified several measureable, biomechanical risk factors. These include:

•Excessive knee valgus (inward collapse)
•Poor trunk control,
•Excessive quadriceps forces, and
•Leg asymmetries. **

While there are other factors, these biomechanical factors can be assessed and improved with a proper strength training program. However, most athletes (especially females) never develop a solid athletic conditioning/strengthening background prior to, or in conjunction to participating in field and court sports.

**Pappas E, Zampeli F, Xergia SA, Georgoulis AD. Lessons learned from the last 20 years of ACL-related in vivo-biomechanics research of the knee joint. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012 Mar 23. [Epub ahead of print].