Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Scott Armstrong
Dr. Beth Schurman
Project Type
Honors Program project
Scholarship Domain(s)
Scholarship of Discovery
Presentation Type
Presentation
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are highly prevalent in soccer as quick changes in direction, stop-start motions, as well as jumping and landing often paired shooting or passing a ball are continuously occurring throughout a practice or match. Exaggeration of these movements paired with extreme joint motions increases the likelihood of ACL injury. An ACL injury can be detrimental to an athlete’s career, as 25% of athletes do not return to their previous level of play prior to injury. Research has shown that programs consisting of a combination of plyometric, balance, and strengthening exercises constitutes a greater prevention of ACL injury.
METHODS: This study uses an unestablished prevention program consisting of exercises that increased in difficulty as the weeks progressed. The program was implemented three days a week for four weeks. The Modified Lower Extremity Scoring System (LESS) was used to determine the risk of ACL injury of each participant. Participants were taken from Olivet Nazarene University 2016 Women’s Soccer Team. None of the participants had sustained any knee injury prior to participation. The control group consisted of five participants, while the experimental group consisted of three participants. Both groups participated in vertical drop tests as their landings were evaluated with the Modified LESS, prior to implementation of the prevention program on the experimental group. After the program concluded, each group was retested. We hypothesized that after participation in a progressive four week ACL prevention program, the experimental group would display a decrease in their Modified LESS scores, indicating a decrease in noncontact ACL injury, whereas the control group would see little to no differentiation of scores.
RESULTS: The hypothesis that a progressive ACL injury prevention program would lower ACL injury risk factors on the Modified LESS was confirmed. A trend was observed in the Modified LESS of the experimental group.
CONCLUSION: The decrease of the scores occurred in the same five of the ten categories. This could be due to the auditory cues that were given while the participations were performing. The results found in the study correlated with other research.
Permission Type
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Included in
Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Collegiate Female Soccer Players: The Effects of a Four Week Prevention Program on Landing Kinematics
Fishbowl
BACKGROUND: Noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are highly prevalent in soccer as quick changes in direction, stop-start motions, as well as jumping and landing often paired shooting or passing a ball are continuously occurring throughout a practice or match. Exaggeration of these movements paired with extreme joint motions increases the likelihood of ACL injury. An ACL injury can be detrimental to an athlete’s career, as 25% of athletes do not return to their previous level of play prior to injury. Research has shown that programs consisting of a combination of plyometric, balance, and strengthening exercises constitutes a greater prevention of ACL injury.
METHODS: This study uses an unestablished prevention program consisting of exercises that increased in difficulty as the weeks progressed. The program was implemented three days a week for four weeks. The Modified Lower Extremity Scoring System (LESS) was used to determine the risk of ACL injury of each participant. Participants were taken from Olivet Nazarene University 2016 Women’s Soccer Team. None of the participants had sustained any knee injury prior to participation. The control group consisted of five participants, while the experimental group consisted of three participants. Both groups participated in vertical drop tests as their landings were evaluated with the Modified LESS, prior to implementation of the prevention program on the experimental group. After the program concluded, each group was retested. We hypothesized that after participation in a progressive four week ACL prevention program, the experimental group would display a decrease in their Modified LESS scores, indicating a decrease in noncontact ACL injury, whereas the control group would see little to no differentiation of scores.
RESULTS: The hypothesis that a progressive ACL injury prevention program would lower ACL injury risk factors on the Modified LESS was confirmed. A trend was observed in the Modified LESS of the experimental group.
CONCLUSION: The decrease of the scores occurred in the same five of the ten categories. This could be due to the auditory cues that were given while the participations were performing. The results found in the study correlated with other research.