BACKGROUND: Female athletes are 4–6 times more likely to suffer an ACL injury than males in comparable sports. A link between landing biomechanics and ACL injury has led to the development of injury prevention focused training protocols. It is often difficult to measure the protocols’ efficacy of different protocols on reduction of ACL injury-related factors.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the effects of in-season neuromuscular training on a field-based evaluation used to help identify athletes at risk for ACL injuries. The hypothesis was that the ACL injury prevention training program included with an in-season soccer program would demonstrate increased improvement in the Tuck Jump Assessment (TJA) scores at post-season follow-up testing relative to standard in-season soccer training.
METHODS: Forty-nine female soccer players were tested with TJA before and after participation in either in-season injury prevention training (IN) or standard in-season soccer training (CTRL). Participants were filmed performing the TJA with digital video cameras and scored by two separate raters, each viewing randomized videos. The groups received neuromuscular training synthesized from previous protocols demonstrated to decrease ACL injury. A mixed design (2X2; group by time) repeated measures ANOVA was used to test the interaction and main effects of group (ACL intervention training in-season vs. standard soccer in-season training) and time (pre vs. post-season) on dynamic TJA scores.
RESULTS: There was a significant main effect of time on TJA score (p=0.04) for athletes measured at pre- and post-season. The IN group reduced measured landing and jumping deficits from 5.4 ± 1.6 to 4.9 ± 1.0 points following training. CTRL showed a 14% reduction in TJA deficit points following the soccer season.
CONCLUSIONS: The tested hypothesis that the in-season ACL intervention training can be utilized to reduce measured TJA deficits above and beyond a standard in-season soccer protocol was not supported. Future research is warranted to determine if a combination of intensive pre-season and reduced in-season maintenance training is optimal for improvement of dynamic movement biomechanics during the TJA and ultimately preventing ACL injuries.