Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Distinction Paper

Degree Name

Allied Health-BS

Department

Health & Sport Sciences

Advisor

Shelley Payne Ph.D.

First Committee Member

Shelley Payne, Ph.D.

Second Committee Member

Danielle Kilboy, M.S., ATC, AT

Keywords

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury, Prevention, Female Athletes, Assessment Tools

Subject Categories

Sports Medicine | Sports Sciences

Abstract

Research has found a variety of mechanisms for ACL injuries. One mechanism that has been found is a decreased valgus control at the knee. One study found that that “the decreased active and passive controls of knee alignments may destabilize the knee and are purported to be measures related to increased risk of ACL injury in female athletes, as they mature” (Myer, Ford, Khoury, Succop, & Hewett, 2011, 248). The age of the subjects (12-16) is important because maturation may be a contributing cause of knee abduction moments (KAM). Three-dimensionalanalysis has been said to be the “gold standard” when analyzing biomechanics, however,researchers have commented on the “considerable financial, spatial, and temporal costs, which severely limit their application to the large scale screening, training, and evaluation programs necessary for successful prevention of non-contact ACL injuries” (Walker, Ford, Myer, Hewett, & Bogert, 2005, 355). Therefore, research has been completed on the accuracy and reliability of 2-dimensional analysis. A study found that when the joint centers can be easily identified, the use of 2-dimensional analysis to evaluate frontal plane knee motion is reliable (Mclean, Walker, Ford, Myer, Hewett, & Bogert, 2005). Mizner, ,Chmielewski, Toepke, and Toefte (2013) specified two reliable options when using 2-dimensional analysis including frontal plane projection angles (FPPA) and the knee:ankle separation ratio. The purpose of this research is to use 2-dimensional video analysis and frontal plane projection angles to evaluate landing biomechanics of pre-pubescent and post-pubescent female soccer athletes. The subjects will be a U-12 female soccer club team as well as the Otterbein University women soccer players. Also, the research will investigate the effectiveness of 2-dimensional analysis as an evaluation tool for ACL risk measurements.

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