DO FIELD HOCKEY PLAYERS REQUIRE A SPORT-SPECIFIC BIOMECHANICAL ASSESSMENT TO CLASSlFY THEIR ANTERIOR CRUClATE LIGAMENT INJURY RISK?

Abstract

The lower limb biomechanics of 13 elite female hockey players were compared between 1) a generic, and 2) a hockey-specific (i.e., flexed trunk and hockey stick present) ACL injury risk movement assessment. Our aim was to determine if an athlete's ACL injury risk classification differed as a function of their movement assessment. An increase in trunk, hip and knee flexion was observed during the hockey-specific movement assessment. No significant differences in key ACL injury risk factors (i.e., peak three dimensional knee moments) were observed. These results show that imposing hockeyspecific requirements during a lab based movement assessment did not change an athlete's ACL injury risk classification when compared to a generic movement assessment.