Mechanisms of Injury | Sportsmetrics

Picture this: your star basketball player is running back to play defense. She transitions from one side of the court to the other chasing the ball handler. In a split second she races over to defend an open shooter. As she attempts to stop and defend the shot she over extends her leg. She falls to the ground and grabs her knee. A trip to the emergency room reveals a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and everyone wonders, “How did that happen? She wasn’t hit, she just stopped running.

“On an all-too regular basis, this scene is played out in gyms and fields across the United States with 30,000 high school and college-age females tearing their ACL this year. Nearly 70% of ACL injuries are “non-contact” injuries, meaning the injuries occur without striking, bumping or hitting the knee directly. Serious knee injuries occur 2-10 times more frequently in female athletes than in male athletes: the more difficult the sport/activity, the higher the injury rate. One in every 10 collegiate female athletes and one in every 100 high school female athletes will sustain an ACL injury every year. In fact, serious knee injuries in female athletes are so widespread that coaches of high school and college teams expect at least one player to be sidelined by a serious knee injury every season.

There are three main non-contact mechanisms that have been identified 1) planting and cutting, 2) straight knee landing, and 3) one-step stop landing with knee hyperextension. A non-contact injury will often occur with jumping or landing from a jump. To tear the ACL, non-contact mechanisms of injury must involve a forward movement of the tibia (shin bone) and often an additional rotation of the tibia with respect to the femur (thigh bone).

70% of ACL injuries are the result of non-contact situations. What about the other 30%? Contact injuries make up 30% of ACL injuries. In contact injuries, there is a direct blow from another athlete. This can happen when an athlete is hit from behind causing anterior (forward) movement of the tibia or from the side causing the lower leg to rotate. These types of injuries are much less preventable than non-contact injuries.



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Picture this: your star basketball player is running back to play defense. She transitions from one side of the court to the other chasing the ball handler. In a split second she races over to defend an open shooter. As she attempts to stop and defend the shot she over extends her leg. She falls to the ground and grabs her knee. A trip to the emergency room reveals a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and everyone wonders, “How did that happen? She wasn’t hit, she just stopped running. “On an all-too regular basis, this scene is played out in gyms and fields across the United States with 30,000 high school and college-age females tearing their ACL this year. Nearly 70% of ACL injuries are “non-contact” injuries, meaning the injuries occur without striking, bumping or hitting the knee directly. Serious knee injuries occur 2-10 times more frequently in female athletes than in male athletes: the more difficult the sport/activity, the higher the injury rate. One in every 10 collegiate female athletes and one in every 100 high school female athletes will sustain an ACL injury every year. In fact, serious knee injuries in female athletes are so widespread that coaches of high school and college teams expect at least one player to be sidelined by a serious knee injury every season. There are three main non-contact mechanisms that have been identified 1) planting and cutting, 2) straight knee landing, and 3) one-step stop landing with knee hyperextension. A non-contact injury will often occur with jumping or landing from a jump. To tear the ACL, non-contact mechanisms of injury must involve a forward movement of the tibia (shin bone) and often an additional rotation of the tibia with respect to the femur (thigh bone). 70% of ACL injuries are the result of non-contact situations. What about the other 30%? Contact injuries make up 30% of ACL injuries. In contact injuries, there is a direct blow from another athlete. This can happen when an athlete is hit from behind causing anterior (forward) movement of the tibia or from the side causing the lower leg to rotate. These types of injuries are much less preventable than non-contact injuries.
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