Does the Performance with the Overhead Deep Squat Predict Lower Extremity Kinematics During a High Velocity Cutting Task in Adolescent Female Soccer Players?
Female soccer players experience a higher rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries than their male counterparts. During maneuvers like a high velocity cutting task (HVCT), female knee flexion..
Female soccer players experience a higher rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries than their male counterparts. During maneuvers like a high velocity cutting task (HVCT), female knee flexion angles are seen to be smaller causing the quadriceps to produce a higher anterior force on the ACL. To combat this, an increase in strength and activation of the posterior chain is required. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the correlations between an overhead deep squat (ODS), which requires a synergist activation of both the quadriceps and the hamstrings, and a HVCT, which involves the muscle activations of the quadriceps and the hamstrings. It is hypothesized that an athlete who performs an ideal ODS will lead to improved kinematics during their HVCT performance. For this purpose, 30 female soccer players will perform three repetitions of a controlled ODS movement and three trials of an HVCT. Kinematic and kinetic data will be collected during both trials using motion capture technology and force plates. Currently, we are developing and validating a musculoskeletal model to analyze the data using an inverse dynamics workflow and to solve a static optimization problem for joint kinematics, muscle forces, and ACL strain. Finding correlations between the ODS and HVCT could expose female soccer player’s susceptibility to ACL tears before the injury occurs providing medical professionals with a prevention technique.
