More Early Training. There needs to be more early training in the female athlete! Neuromuscular imbalances occur between the ages of 11 and 15 and according to Researchers, the peak age for an ACL rupture is 16! Training needs to be implemented early on in the athlete’s career so that these imbalances are corrected before it is too late!
Teach. Teach. Teach. Teaching these athletes to activate specific muscles during specific movements at the right time will help reduce injuries and establish proper motor control and neuromuscular enhancements in the female athlete!
Movement Screening. The ability to incorporate pre-screening protocols and implement an injury prevention exercise protocol is tremendous! In order to successfully decrease the risk of knee injuries, a protocol must include a wide variety of exercises.
This must include bilateral and unilateral plyometrics, exercises that give the ability to co-contract when landing from a jumping exercise, exercises that allows for proper utilization of the gluteus maximus and surrounding musculature, a variety of single leg exercises, single leg balance protocols, eccentric muscle control exercises and lateral change of direction training.
Baseline Exercises For Determining Position Of The Knee
These are a few basic exercises that we have our athletes perform in order to determine a potential risk of injury and poor movement quality.
Body Weight Squats
When performing a body weight squat, do the knees protrude forward over the toes? Are the knees collapsing towards each other or pushing out during the descent of the movement?
Common mistakes will include the weight forward on the toes, poor trunk angles and poor co-contraction of the lower extremities. These are all signs of poor knee position and an increase risk of injury at the ankle, knee and hips.
Squat Jump
When doing a squat jump, was there a rapid movement towards the ground before the actual jump? What were their hips doing during this? Were their knees collapsing during the pre-stretch? How did they land? Was it loud? What were their ankles, knees, hips, and trunk doing during the landing?
Common mistakes will again include the weight on the toes, poor trunk angles and poor co-contraction of the lower extremities leading to poor knee positioning and an increase risk of injury at the ankles, knees and hips.
Lunge Holds
When performing a lunge, do the knees protrude forward over the toes? Are the knees collapsing towards each other or pushing out during the descent of the movement?
Common mistakes will include the weight forward on the toes, poor trunk angles/shifting from side to side, poor core stability, inefficient balance and poor co-contraction of the lower extremities. These are all signs of poor knee positioning and an increase risk of injury at the ankle, knee, hip or back.
Single Arm/Single Leg Reach
When performing the SA/SL Reach, does the athlete lose balance? Does their hips sag and protrude forward due to poor hip strength and core stability? These are all signs of poor movements and an increase risk of injury at the ankle, knee, hip or back.
Common mistakes will include a loss of balance, trunk shifting, incorrect timing of movement and compensation patterns of the hips.
Skate Jump
When performing the Skate Jump, does the athlete lose balance? Can they not control the landing? Do they have a difficult time shifting their weight to prepare for the next jump?These are all signs of poor movement and an increase risk of injury at the ankle, knee, hip or back.
Common mistakes will include a loss of balance, a hard landing, incorrect timing of movement transition from landing to the next jump, poor body control.
Side Lunge
When performing the SA/SL Reach, does the athlete lose balance? Does their hips sag and protrude forward due to poor hip strength and core stability? These are all signs of poor movement and an increase risk of injury at the ankle, knee, hip or back.
Common mistakes will include a loss of balance, knee protruding over the toes, incorrect hip positioning, poor trunk stiffness and stability, incorrect timing of lunge movement to absorb force.
Female Strength Training: Part 4 will include exercises and cues to help fix knee positioning during the squat, squat jump and other single leg exercises!
If you haven’t read Part 1 or Part 2 on Female Strength Training Programs, you can read them HERE and HERE.
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