The influence of in-season injury prevention training on lower-extremity kinematics during landing in female soccer players.

OBJECTIVE To examine the influence of in-season injury prevention training on hip and knee kinematics during a landing task. DESIGN Longitudinal pre-post intervention study. SETTING Testing sessions were conducted in a biomechanics research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Eighteen female soccer players between the ages of 14 and 17 participated in this study. All subjects were healthy with no current complaints of lower extremity injury. INTERVENTIONS Testing sessions were conducted prior to and following a season of soccer practice combined with injury prevention training. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS During each testing session three-dimensional kinematics were collected while each subject performed a drop landing task. Peak hip and knee joint angles were measured during the early deceleration phase of landing and compared between pre- and post-training using paired t-tests. RESULTS Following a season of soccer practice combined with injury prevention training, females demonstrated significantly less hip internal rotation (7.1 degrees vs. 1.9 degrees; P = 0.01) and significantly greater hip abduction (-4.9 degrees vs. -7.7 degrees; P = 0.02). No differences in knee valgus or knee flexion angles were found post-season. CONCLUSIONS Female soccer players exhibited significant changes in hip kinematics during a landing task following in-season injury prevention training. Our results support the premise that a season of soccer practice combined with injury prevention training is effective in altering lower extremity motions that may play a role in predisposing females to ACL injury.