Mentor/s
Dr. Matthew Moran, moranm@sacredheart.edu
Participation Type
Poster
Abstract
Sports requiring jumping and landing maneuvers require specific neuromuscular patterns to control knee position and limit injury risk. Clinicians frequently use double-leg support tasks such as the overhead deep squat (DS) and drop vertical jump (DVJ) in their evaluations of female athletes, yet no previous research has determined the inter-relatedness, or lack thereof, of these screens. Examining the magnitude of kinetic asymmetries via force plates can identify athlete biases from a dominant limb, sequela of previous injury, or from sport-specific training to best screen athletes. PURPOSE: To compare landing kinetics between legs during the down phase of DS and landing phases of DVJ in female collegiate athletes who compete in sports with jumping, landing, and cutting maneuvers. METHODS: Eleven female varsity or club soccer, volleyball, field hockey, and lacrosse athletes from Sacred Heart University volunteered, granted informed consent, and completed a health history questionnaire prior to participation. Subjects were measured for height, weight, knee and ankle widths, and leg length prior to completing a five-minute warmup on the bike. Three familiarization trials were granted for both the DS and DVJ. Reflective markers (dia=14mm) were affixed bilaterally on the head of the 2nd metatarsal, calcaneus, lateral (L)/medial(M) malleoli, L shank, L/M femoral epicondyles, L thigh, anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS), posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS), and iliac crest (IC) using double sided tape. Three trials were recorded per exercise with 30 second rest between trials. All trials were captured with a 14-camera motion capture system (VICON Nexus; 120 Hz) and with dual embedded force plates (AMTI; 1200 Hz). RESULTS: Limb symmetry index (LSI) identified 10 of 11 participants that demonstrated substantial asymmetry (>10%) on either the DS, first landing of DVJ, or second landing of DVJ, with four having substantial asymmetry on DS, seven on the first landing of DVJ, and six on the second landing of DVJ. DISCUSSION: In younger populations, significant bilateral asymmetries were found in peak ground reaction forces (GRF) as well as landing impulse, yet these were not found in this collegiate population. While left and right-side landing impulse is statistically significant in the second landing of the DVJ, there is no statistical significance in weight shift found in either landing of the DVJ or the DS. CONCLUSION: It was hypothesized that as the complexity of the task increased (DVJ), greater asymmetry would result, however, asymmetry remained insignificant across the tests. Both tests do however reflect symmetry accurately and would be effective in analyzing landing technique and possible injury risk. Clinicians should continue using these tests in landing and cutting sports, but with recovering populations, stress should be placed on monitoring and reducing asymmetry values to allow a safe return to sport and lower risk of re-injury. In the future, indicating each athlete's dominant limb would evaluate limb symmetry by sport as well as if the predominant limb during testing is the athlete’s dominant leg. Additionally, a larger sample size across various landing sports could identify other implications, and a reliability study would be best to establish the reliability of the magnitude and direction of asymmetry, otherwise these cannot be used for screening purposes.
College and Major available
College of Health Professions, Exercise Science BS
Location
Digital Commons & West Campus West Building
Start Day/Time
4-29-2022 1:00 PM
End Day/Time
4-29-2022 4:00 PM
Prize Categories
Most Scholarly Impact or Potential, Most Creative
Comparing the Magnitude of Kinetic Asymmetry During the Squat and Drop Vertical Jump in Collegiate Female Athletes
Digital Commons & West Campus West Building
Sports requiring jumping and landing maneuvers require specific neuromuscular patterns to control knee position and limit injury risk. Clinicians frequently use double-leg support tasks such as the overhead deep squat (DS) and drop vertical jump (DVJ) in their evaluations of female athletes, yet no previous research has determined the inter-relatedness, or lack thereof, of these screens. Examining the magnitude of kinetic asymmetries via force plates can identify athlete biases from a dominant limb, sequela of previous injury, or from sport-specific training to best screen athletes. PURPOSE: To compare landing kinetics between legs during the down phase of DS and landing phases of DVJ in female collegiate athletes who compete in sports with jumping, landing, and cutting maneuvers. METHODS: Eleven female varsity or club soccer, volleyball, field hockey, and lacrosse athletes from Sacred Heart University volunteered, granted informed consent, and completed a health history questionnaire prior to participation. Subjects were measured for height, weight, knee and ankle widths, and leg length prior to completing a five-minute warmup on the bike. Three familiarization trials were granted for both the DS and DVJ. Reflective markers (dia=14mm) were affixed bilaterally on the head of the 2nd metatarsal, calcaneus, lateral (L)/medial(M) malleoli, L shank, L/M femoral epicondyles, L thigh, anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS), posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS), and iliac crest (IC) using double sided tape. Three trials were recorded per exercise with 30 second rest between trials. All trials were captured with a 14-camera motion capture system (VICON Nexus; 120 Hz) and with dual embedded force plates (AMTI; 1200 Hz). RESULTS: Limb symmetry index (LSI) identified 10 of 11 participants that demonstrated substantial asymmetry (>10%) on either the DS, first landing of DVJ, or second landing of DVJ, with four having substantial asymmetry on DS, seven on the first landing of DVJ, and six on the second landing of DVJ. DISCUSSION: In younger populations, significant bilateral asymmetries were found in peak ground reaction forces (GRF) as well as landing impulse, yet these were not found in this collegiate population. While left and right-side landing impulse is statistically significant in the second landing of the DVJ, there is no statistical significance in weight shift found in either landing of the DVJ or the DS. CONCLUSION: It was hypothesized that as the complexity of the task increased (DVJ), greater asymmetry would result, however, asymmetry remained insignificant across the tests. Both tests do however reflect symmetry accurately and would be effective in analyzing landing technique and possible injury risk. Clinicians should continue using these tests in landing and cutting sports, but with recovering populations, stress should be placed on monitoring and reducing asymmetry values to allow a safe return to sport and lower risk of re-injury. In the future, indicating each athlete's dominant limb would evaluate limb symmetry by sport as well as if the predominant limb during testing is the athlete’s dominant leg. Additionally, a larger sample size across various landing sports could identify other implications, and a reliability study would be best to establish the reliability of the magnitude and direction of asymmetry, otherwise these cannot be used for screening purposes.
Students' Information
Jaclyn Mahlmeister, Major: Exercise Science, Honors student, Graduation: May 2022