A recent article in the New York Times identified anterior cruciate ligament tears as a rising problem for young athletes. Titled Big-Time Injury Strikes Little Players, the piece told a story of better diagnostics leading doctors, parents and young athletes down a path of difficult decisions, with the most difficult decision being whether or not to operate on a young athlete’s knee.

Steve Swanson, Athletic Republic’s Chief Officer of Science and Technology, offers his perspective on the story:

The article does a nice job of bringing awareness to a very serious issue in youth athletics. Female athletes are especially at risk. They are 2-8 times more likely to incur a non-contact ACL injury than their male counterparts. Over the last decade, a number of research studies have worked on the underlying mechanisms of these injuries. The latest “consensus” (scientists never really reach one) revolves around maintaining dynamic stability during athletic movements–such as landing from a jump or making a cut. If the athlete cannot maintain a stable, athletic position, the alignment of their legs tends to get into a “knock-kneed” position. If they get into this position with their leg fairly straight (bent at about 30 degrees to straight), the geometry of the knee is such that it doesn’t take much of a rotation or pivot to stress the ACL—resulting in an ACL sprain or tear.

There are several factors that may explain how an athlete has difficulty maintaining stability and getting in these positions. Several scientific papers have pointed to various reasons—the majority of them pointing to inadequate strength of key muscles of the hip, trunk and even the hamstrings. No matter the exact muscle group, the key thing to remember is that the body is a complex system, so strengthening one muscle does not result in a magic fix of a problem. The key is that the system as a whole becomes more stable and able to resist getting into these bad positions during dynamic movements—thus the term “dynamic stability”.

The good news is that several researchers have shown that the type of training we do at Athletic Republic can reduce the incidence of these injuries by over 60%. Learning better movement skills is the key to improving dynamic stability and reducing the likelihood of getting into these uncompromising positions. Learning how to properly stabilize when landing from a jump and staying in proper alignment when making a cut are part of mastering fundamental movement skills. As these skills are mastered, performance naturally improves and provides a rock-solid foundation to make real performance gains in conditioning and overall athleticism. A well-conditioned athlete who moves well drastically improves their dynamic stability, performance and, most importantly, decreases the likelihood of incurring an ACL injury.

At Athletic Republic, we have spent years developing testing tools and training programs to keep athletes healthy and performing at their best by continually monitoring what works best for athletes in many different sports in order to deliver the best possible programs to all our athletes.