Student: Daniel Gayton-Jenkins
Project Mentors: Wenlong Zhang – The Polytechnic School
Dr. Daniel Peterson - College of Health Solutions (CHS)
Dr. Aurel Coza – Digital Sports at Adidas & Center for Engagement Science
YouTube Link: View the video link below before joining the zoom meeting
Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/96870209842
Zoom meeting time: 9am - noon
Abstract
Few collegiate sports have seen a reduction in ACL injuries with women’s lacrosse being no exception, experiencing a 35% increase in the overall ACL injury rate between the previous 16 year and subsequent 9-year study spanning from 1988 to 2013. These rates will surely be surpassed as high school and collegiate sports participation has drastically increased by 10 and 5-fold over the previous 30 years, prior to 2018. In addition to the physical pain, ACL injuries can negatively influence academic performance, lead to long-term disabilities and greater risk of osteoarthritis. Pinpointing trainable deficits, associated with mechanisms of non-contact ACL injuries, have become a greater focus in elite sports performance and injury prevention programs. One such mechanism is lower limb stiffness [LLS], defined as the ability of the muscle-tendon complex to lengthen under an applied force. Previous evidence has suggested that too much LLS can lead to high levels of force and loading rates and a greater risk for bony injuries while too little is associated with an increased risk for soft tissue injury and muscle strains. Based on these previous findings, it has been hypothesized there is an optimum level of LLS that minimizes risk of injury and maximizes performance. The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the implementation of force plate based sport-specific assessments in D1 collegiate athletics as a means of quantifying optimum LLS based on key performance indicators (KPI). Arizona State University's women's lacrosse program, composed of 43 athletes, participated in routine countermovement jump (CMJ) force-plate assessments over the course of the 2020 collegiate women’s lacrosse season (~2 months). LLS was quantified based on forces and displacement experienced by the individual’s center of mass, termed in literature as vertical stiffness.