Knee-Friendly Landings Reduce Force By 56 Percent

Julius Erving

From the latest sports science and fitness research by Dan Peterson and theorignalPGC.

Anterior cruciate ligament injuries are a common and debilitating problem, especially for female athletes. A new study from UC Davis shows that changes in training can reduce shear forces on knee joints and could help cut the risk of developing ACL tears.

“We focused on an easy intervention, and we were amazed that we could reduce shear load in 100 percent of the volunteers,” said David Hawkins, professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior at UC Davis. Hawkins conducted the study at the UC Davis Human Performance Laboratory with graduate student Casey Myers.

The anterior cruciate ligament lies in the middle of the knee and provides stability to the joint. Most ACL injuries do not involve a collision between players or a noticeably bad landing, said Sandy Simpson, UC Davis women’s basketball coach.

“It almost always happens coming down from a rebound, catching a pass or on a jump-stop lay-up,” Simpson said. “It doesn’t have to be a big jump.”

Hawkins and Myers worked with 14 female basketball players from UC Davis and local high schools. They fitted them with instruments and used digital cameras to measure their movements and muscle activity, and calculated the forces acting on their knee joints as they practiced a jump-stop movement, similar to a basketball drill.

First, they recorded the athletes making their normal movement. Then they instructed them in a modified technique: Jumping higher to land more steeply; landing on their toes; and bending their knees more deeply before taking off again.

After learning the new technique, all 14 volunteers were able to reduce the force

passed up to the knee joint through the leg bone (the tibial shear force) by an average of 56 percent. At the same time, the athletes in the study actually jumped an inch higher than before, without losing speed.

Hawkins recommends warm-ups that exercise the knee and focusing on landing on the toes and balls of the feet. The study does not definitively prove that these techniques will reduce ACL injuries, Hawkins said: that would require a full clinical trial and follow-up. But the anecdotal evidence suggests that high tibial shear forces are associated with blown knees.

Hawkins and Myers shared their findings with Simpson and other UC Davis women’s basketball and soccer coaches, as well as with local youth soccer coaches.  The research was published online Aug. 3 in the Journal of Biomechanics.

Simpson said that the team had tried implementing some changes during last year’s preseason, but had found it difficult to continue the focus once the full regular season began. In live play, athletes quickly slip back to learned habits and “muscle memory” takes over, he noted. More intensive off-court training and practice would be needed to change those habits, he said.

“We will be talking about this again this season,” Simpson said. Implementing the techniques in youth leagues, while children are still learning how to move, might have the most impact, he said.From The latest sports science and fitness research by Dan Peterson on theoriginalPGC

Play Through the Foul

Most of you know, remember  or have a story about Vera Jones… the Flying V!  A caring a funny lady that you don’t easily forget.  My stories and memories all stem from both our time on the road with the New York Liberty.

We need to support Vera in her attempt to continue to “Play Through the Foul,” (as her book suggests).  This really isn’t about Vera’s attempt to garner her own talk show… though after spending several years with Vera while she broadcast New York Liberty games, I have to vouch for her gift.  She is a talented broadcaster, a funny, funny lady and a great person.  A talk show featuring Vera would, no doubt, be both inspirational and entertaining.

No, this is about Vera only child Andrew.  Andrew is 12 and a short time ago he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  Andrew underwent many hours of surgery and came out of it alive, but having lost 3/4 of his sight.  She and Andrew were immediately handed the greatest “foul” of thier lives.

As Vera’s book says…”Play Through the Foul,” she has taught her young son… “it’s not how much you can see, but who you are meant to be.”  Well go ahead V… do your thing!

If that means Vera is meant to host her own TV talk show… Great!  We can help her by voting for her audition tape here.

VERA JONES AUDITION.

… and lending her our thoughts and prayers for Andrew’s complete recovery.

Follow the above link, watch V’s audition and vote to help her realize her dream.  Good Luck Vera!

Monica Wright vs. Ryan Gomes H-O-R-S-E

This is fun…

Monica Wright playing Ryan Gomes is H-O-R-S-E.

http://www.sikids.com/Horse

Moni has to learn to talk the talk and walk the walk!

Monica Wright

Swish Appeal had a nice piece on Monica Wright’s first three games in the WNBA…. I can’t wait to take my family to see her play in Washington (Friday the 13th of August!)  With her family there, it will be a special night.  I won’t be able to wait that long to see her play live though.  I’m going to need to make a road trip.

In reviewing game film of Minnesota Lynx rookie guard Monica Wright, Seattle Storm coach Brian Agler noted that she is a confident go-to player and liked “how physical she is for being that young.”

Wright wasted no time in person showing Agler and the Storm just how good she could be when she came to Key Arena on Wednesday evening.

On an inbounds play during Minnesota’s first possession, Wright came around a screen on the right wing and received the ball from forward Hamchetou Maiga-Ba and in seemingly one fluid motion elevated over Tanisha Wright for quick jumper falling away for the first two points of the game.

That was just a sneak preview of what was to come.

In the first five minutes before a Storm timeout with 4:44 left in the first quarter, Wright had already scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting capped off by a strong layup off of two feet after driving by Wright on the left wing and pulling a crossover on a rotating Lauren Jackson in the middle of the key.

It wasn’t just that the Lynx were running plays to Wright, it’s that she so smoothly showed the ability to score in multiple ways and an undeterred tenacity even in the face of a stalwart defender like Lauren Jackson.

In catching up with her after the game, Wright was definitely disappointed with the Lynx’s 79-76 loss, but relieved by the breakthrough performance in which she finished with 19 points on 8-16 shooting in 34 minutes.

“It just felt like it was a weight lifted off my shoulders,” said Wright. “It was just something I needed to do for the team to be in the game and be able to win.”

The weight Wright was referring to was the 8-31 shooting in her first two games against the Tulsa Shock and Washington Mystics, which some might see as a harbinger of inefficient volume shooting to come. However, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve shared a more nuanced analysis of her performance with Swish Appeal prior to Wednesday night’s road game against the Seattle Storm.

“You know, without Monica Wright to start the Tulsa game, we don’t get off to a double figure lead,” said Reeve when asked about Wright’s 6-18 and 7 turnover performance against the Shock. “So we didn’t really have a whole lot to say to her. We actually took her out at the end. And we’ve got some veterans that we need to count on. It should not be a situation where you count Monica Wright to get through this time. So I’m more interested in letting Moni just kind of adjust to our league and when she plays well obviously we’ll be really good, it’s just going to take some time.”

Between Agler’s observations of the Lynx offense, Reeve’s faith in her rookie, and Wright’s self-assessment of her game, it might almost seem inevitable that Wright ends up becoming a great scorer in this league. Perhaps needless to say, Wright was a bit better than the Storm expected.

Monica Wright’s Big Day Arrives

The WNBA Draft is today!  For Monica Wright, her family as well as a host of others, today is a special day.  In a little less than an hour, everything Monica has known as a player changes.  There will be pay checks, endorsements, appearances, media, pictures, travel.  Exciting times!  Congratulations to all, enjoy the moment and the day – it’s special.  Follow the DRAFT HERE. See our 2010 WNBA MOCK DRAFT HERE.

From By DAVE UTNIK

On the rare occasions when she allowed herself to look beyond the goal directly before her, Monica Wright imagined what it might feel like to walk onto the court for the first time as a professional basketball player.

She’s never been one to assume anything. The University of Virginia’s all-time scoring leader has spent her entire career pursuing one small milestone after another.

Looking too far ahead isn’t her thing. Wright prepares for the moment and then moves on. It’s a personal rule that has worked out well because everywhere she goes, success ultimately follows.

But even Wright has day dreams.

And her happily-ever-after visions have usually involved playing in the Women’s National Basketball Association.

Even as a high school sophomore, when she was just beginning to discover her potential as one of the nation’s elite women’s basketball players, it was assumed by everyone around her that Wright would play in the WNBA.

Her talent was that obvious.

Almost everything Wright has accomplished over the past decade—two high school state championships at Forest Park and first-team Associated Press All-America honors at Virginia—has led her to this afternoon’s draft in Secaucus, N.J., where the best player in Prince William County history is expected to be among the top five selections.  She won’t get past the second pick.

“I can see myself around the perimeter playing maybe one through three. That’s where I have been playing throughout my whole career,” Wright said. “But I feel the most comfortable at shooting guard.

“As I have heard and learned, this draft is going to be guard heavy so it’s going to be exciting to see where everybody goes.”

Pre-draft buzz has Wright reaching the podium within 10 minutes, most likely as the No. 2 or No. 3 overall pick—shortly after the Connecticut Sun select UConn center Tina Charles with the first pick.

Here is a quick look at where Wright could be headed:

Connecticut Su

1st and 7th overall pick

After finishing sixth in the Eastern Conference last season at 16-18, the Sun had a busy offseason. They acquired 2009 first-round pick Renee Montgomery from Minnesota in exchange for the first overall pick. On Wednesday, they traded guard/forward Amber Holt and center Chante Black to the Tulsa Shock to get the No. 7 pick.

Connecticut, which desperately needs a center, is expected to select Charles. The last two No. 1 selections—Angel McCoughtry and Candice Parker—went on to win rookie of the year honors.

The Sun would certainly choose Wright at No. 7, but she probably won’t last that long.

Minnesota Lynx

2nd and 3rd overall pick

The Lynx seem to be a perfect fit for Wright, who led the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring and was named the NCAA defensive player of the year.

First-year coach Cheryl Reeves wants defense to be a priority after Minnesota gave up the second-most points in the league a year ago. And that is Wright’s forte.  ACC and National Defensive Player of the year, check.

The thing about Wright is that she also creates match-up problems with her speed and versatility. She’s started at point guard, shooting guard and small forward at one point or another in her career. The Lynx appear to be set in the backcourt after acquiring Lindsey Whalen from the Sun to play alongside Candice Wiggins.

Chicago Sky

4th overall pick

The Sky nearly made the playoffs for the first time since joining the league in 2005 and Wright is just the kind of athlete who could finally lead them there.

If the Lynx don’t select Wright with one of their two picks, then the Sky almost assuredly will despite five guards on the active roster, including point guard Kristi Toliver, from Maryland, and Jia Perkins.

The Sky bolstered their front court by getting center Courtney Paris from Sacramento in the dispersal draft and Shameka Christon is a trade with the Liberty.

What they need now is an impact scorer. With one pick in the first two rounds, Chicago will have to draft wisely.

San Antonio Silver Star

5th overall pick

The Stars are the first 2009 playoff team to make a pick in this year’s draft. After nearly upsetting eventually champion Phoenix in the Western Conference semifinals, there aren’t many weaknesses.

They addressed a need for rebounding by trading for center Michelle Snow, signing Tasha Humphrey and getting forward Laura Harper in the dispersal draft.

All-Star Becky Hammon and shooting guard Roneeka Hodges are the likely backcourt starters, but Wright has a way of blending in almost anywhere.

Washington Mystic

6th overall pick

It’s probably wishful thinking. As wonderful as it would be for Wright to play—and star—in her hometown, there is very little chance of her landing in D.C.

The Mystics are one of the league’s up-and-coming teams after a string of successful drafts and the recent signing of all-star guard Katie Smith, who should play along with Alana Beard and Lindsey Harding in a three-guard backcourt.

After reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, the Mystics could still use another versatile small forward. Maybe they’ll be lucky enough to find Wright still on the draft board at No. 6. It’s not likely though.