A team of researchers from China, Singapore, and New Zealand built a computer model to examine the role of ankle motion in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury as related to single leg landing. Single-leg landing is an essential skill in sports such as basketball, soccer, and volleyball.
Their findings showed that:
- A larger ankle plantarflexion during landing can reduce the knee impact load.
- A larger ankle plantarflexion can reduce the risk of rupture of the medial femoral attachments area of the ACL.
Their proposed knee musculoskeletal model can realistically revert and simulate the mechanics of ACL injury as it relates to single leg standing biomechanics.
Source: Xu D, Zhou H, Wang M, et al. Contribution of ankle motion pattern during landing to reduce the knee-related injury risk. Comput Biol Med. 2024;180:108965. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2024.108965.
