THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANKLE LAXITY AND FRONTAL PLANE ANGLES DURING NETBALL SPECIFIC TASKS: A PILOT STUDY

Abstract

Ankle sprains are common in netball and, if quantified mechanical ankle laxity can be linked with ankle kinematics during common netball landing tasks, then preventative measures can be implemented to reduce the occurrence of such injuries. Four netball players had their ankle laxity measured with an ankle arthrometer and performed two landing tasks (a cutting manoeuvre and a linear running task involving a ball catch and sudden stop) within the 3D motion analysis laboratory. The participant with the highest arthrometry measured ankle laxity angle displayed the highest frontal plane range of motion during both landing tasks. A high correlation coefficient (R2=0.84) was found when comparing arthrometry measures with frontal plane range of motion during the cutting task. Although a promising relationship was observed, larger sample sizes are needed for more conclusive results.