LANDING KINEMATICS, KINETICS AND EMG IN MALE AND FEMALE ATHLETES AND NON-ATHLETES: IMPLICATIONS FOR ACL INJURY RISK

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Female athletes are more likely to sustain an ACL injury than male athletes. The purpose was to investigate variables that have been identified as ACL risk factors during a landing task to determine differences among male and female athletes and non-athletes (N = 100). Variables included knee angle at contact, maximum knee angle, time (contact to max angle), VGRF, and muscle activation. Male non-athletes bent the knees significantly more after contact than male athletes. Male athletes landed with significantly more force per body weight than male non-athletes or female athletes and male non-athletes landed with significantly more force than female non-athletes. No other significant differences were observed. The authors concluded that the high rate of ACL injury among female athletes cannot be explained by the landing strategy employed in a jump.