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
Dee Brown
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
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago. Add a comment
Link for the U of A Newsletter – August 2010.
To join the newsletter list please email seanmiller@arizona.edu, or visit our website each month for a copy.
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago. Add a comment
Mark Lewis
Mark Lewis writes for Hoop Gurlz… he writes exceptionally well. Very insightful. Would I consider him a writer? Probably not. No disrespect intended. Mark’s a basketball coach. In my mind’s eye I still see him on the sideline, or out on the road recruiting…. minus the camera.
So many times in the recruiting process parents try to re-live their sports lives (or lack there of) through their child’s… HUGE MISTAKE. Mark’s insight is accurate and helpful. Mark says, “I’m not a parent…” I disagree. Biology may not have played a part in Mark’s “parenting,” but he “parented” many during his 20+ year coaching career.
I’m a parent. We have a daughter. Both my wife and I went off to college. I blew out my ankle twice. If I didn’t pick the school because I wanted to be there no matter what happened on the basketball court – I would have been miserable. My wife did transfer because she was miserable. We had both sides of the story. Mark is spot on.
I hope Mark is around and I remember his words in 2018 when our daughter is making her decision.
In… Remember who has the final decision, Mark shares a great perspective into the process of recruiting for parents. Who actually has the final decision is really important.
Parenting is tough. That fact is evidenced every day by rebellious kids and surrendering parents who just throw up their arms in exasperation. The approaches to guiding, teaching, preparing and supporting are varied and as daunting a challenge as any adult will face.
Now add to that the twists, turns and decisions that come with the recruiting of a prospective student-athlete and you’ve got a volatile mix that can tip the fragile relationship between a teenager and her parents.
I must confess, I’m not a parent. In fact my single greatest contribution to society may well be that I’ve added no offspring of mine to the population. However, I have had a ringside seat to a multitude of recruiting decisions through the years that have revealed some startling child-parent dynamics.
A lot of athletes go through the recruiting process with their parents at their side and come up with the right decision that makes sense for her future in the classroom, on the court and personally. The tug of war begins when the agenda of mom and dad start to override that of their daughter.
Continue Reading…
Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago. 1 comment
ANTON MARCHAND
For those that haven’t been up around NYC, especially in Brooklyn… you are missing out. You have to swing through and see the Rose Classic at JHS 113 on Adelphi Avenue and Anton Marchand.
You can read all about the history, the players and the exceptional things Anton is doing for that community is the Daily News articles below.
ROSE CLASSIC ARTICLES.
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
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.
Vera Jones
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!
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
