OBJECTIVE To refresh the athletic trainer's knowledge of articular cartilage biomechanics, physiology, and structure and explore the role of glucosamine sulfate in treating articular cartilage pathologic conditions, including supplementation methods and clinical outcomes. DATA SOURCES We searched MEDLINE from 1989 through 2000 and SPORT Discus from 1975 through 2000 using the following key wo...

BACKGROUND Snowboard cross (SBX) became an official Olympic sport in 2006. This discipline includes manoeuvring several obstacles while competing in heats. It is common for the riders to collide, making this sport both exciting and at risk of injuries. Although a recent study from the 2010 Olympic Games has shown that the injury risk was high, little is known about the injury mechanisms. OBJE...

Olympic-style sliding-seat rowing is a sport that has been extensively researched, with studies investigating aspects related to the physiology, biomechanics, kinematics, and performance of rowers. In contrast, on more classic form fixed-seat are sparse. The aim this study address lacuna by analysing for first time specific kinematics as practised able-bodied athletes, thus (i) documenting how ...

Too many times theories of how the human foot functions and therefore how mechanically inducted foot problems are treated have been presented as if they were facts. The dogmatic adherence that sometimes ensues from such an approach has frequently stifled the evolution of foot mechanics. This has been particularly apparent in the field of podiatry which has been dominated by the Root paradigm. B...

The concepts of "swimming" and "water activities" have evolved greatly since the first written document on swimming (Nikolaus Wynmann, 1538, "Colymbetes, sive de arte natandi dialogus et festivus et iucundus lectu" ["The Swimmer, or A Dialogue on the Art of Swimming and Joyful and Pleasant to Read"]). At its inception, swimming was understood simply as moving in water – first, in order to survi...

Soccer, known as football everywhere in the world except the United States, is undoubtedly one of the world’s most popular team sports. In the United States alone it is estimated that 12.5 to 18.2 million people participate in this sport. A global estimate by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (1) has reported the number of people worldwide who regularly play at approximately...

Basketball is a highly competitive sport in which the knee joint is constantly subject to physical stresses. Basketball-related traumatic injuries are the result of specific technical movements. Even though basketball is not considered a contact sport, injuries in basketball players are due both to athletes' handling of the ball and to their intense physical interaction during games. Nowadays, ...

Young aesthetic athletes require special understanding of the athletic biomechanical demands peculiar to each sport. The performance of these activities may impart specific biomechanical stresses and subsequent injury patterns. The clinician must understand these aspects as well as the spinal changes that occur with growth when many of these injuries often occur. Further, athletes, parents, coa...