A comparison of knee kinetics between male and female recreational athletes in stop-jump tasks

Abstract

We compared the knee kinetics of 10 male and 10 female recreational athletes (aged 19 to 25 years) performing forward, vertical, and backward stop-jump tasks. Three-dimensional videography and force plate data were used to record the subjects' performance of the three stop-jump tasks, and an inverse dynamic procedure was used to estimate the knee joint resultant forces and moments. Women exhibited greater proximal anterior shear force than did men during the landing phase. All subjects exhibited greater proximal tibia anterior shear force during the landing phase of the backward stop-jump task than during the other two stop-jump tasks. Women also exhibited greater knee extension and valgus moments than did men during the landing phase of each stop-jump task. Men exhibited greater proximal tibia anterior shear force than did women during the takeoff phase of vertical and backward stop-jump tasks. These results indicate that female recreational athletes may have altered motor control strategies that result in knee positions in which anterior cruciate ligament injuries may occur. The landing phase was more stressful for the anterior cruciate ligament of both women and men than the takeoff phase in all stop-jump tasks. Technical training for female athletes may need to be focused on reducing the peak proximal tibia anterior shear force in stop-jump tasks. Further studies are needed to determine the factors associated with the increased peak proximal tibia anterior shear force in female recreational athletes.