The association of dorsiflexion flexibility on knee kinematics and kinetics during a drop vertical jump in healthy female athletes

Abstract

Purpose While previous studies have examined the association between ankle dorsiflexion flexibility and deleterious landing postures, it is not currently known how landing kinetics are influenced by ankle dorsiflexion flexibility. The purpose of this study was to examine if ankle dorsiflexion flexibility was associated with landing kinematics and kinetics that have been shown to increase the risk of ACL injury in female athletes. Methods Twenty-three female collegiate soccer players participated in a preseason screening that included the assessment of ankle dorsiflexion flexibility and lower-body kinematics and kinetics during a drop vertical jump task. Results The results demonstrated that females with less ankle dorsiflexion flexibility exhibited greater peak knee abduction moments (r = −.442), greater peak knee abduction angles (r = .355), and less peak knee flexion angles (r = −.385) during landing. The range of dorsiflexion flexibility for the current study was between 9°–23° degrees (mean = 15.0°; SD 3.9°). Conclusion Dorsiflexion flexibility may serve as a useful clinical measure to predict poor landing postures and external forces that have been associated with increased knee injury risk. Rehabilitation specialists can provide interventions aimed at improving dorsiflexion flexibility in order to ameliorate the impact of this modifiable factor on deleterious landing kinematics and kinetics in female athletes.

Restricted Unilateral Ankle Dorsiflexion Movement Increases Interlimb Vertical Force Asymmetries in Bilateral Bodyweight Squatting

“…This is likely most relevant towards the end phase of the descent during the squat, where restrictions in ankle flexibility may manifest in compensations, as full joint range of motion is exhausted (28). Recently, a large body of research has identified the ankle joint as a primary limiter in driving compensatory strategies in squat mechanics (7,25,26,32). As a result of ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (DF-ROM) limitations, compensations in movement strategies in squatting may develop in order to allow an individual to lower their center of mass and complete the task objective (32).…”

Ground Reaction Forces Are Predicted with Functional and Clinical Tests in Healthy Collegiate Students

“…Within any study participant pool, the frequency of ACL injury is prospectively unknown. In response to this challenge, investigators have utilized known ACL injury risk factors as a proxy for the actual injury [ 17 , 58 , 63 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 ]. The potential for ACL injury incidence is higher with larger sample pools.…”

The Efficacy of Lower-Limb Screening Tests in Predicting PlayerLoad Within a Professional Soccer Academy

“…This directional specificity in correlation between the knee to wall test and planar loading reflects the linear nature of the ankle dorsiflexion task. The relationship between ankle dorsiflexion range and injury is equivocal, 24,25 but the association with PlayerLoad most likely reflects the activity patterns inherent in soccer.…”