Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries of the knee are significantly more common in women as compared to men. The disparity in ACL injury rates between the sexes arises around the time of puberty. Despite this, few studies have involved prepubescent participants. Landing awkwardly from a jump has been identified as a particularly high risk movement for ACL injury. However there has been limited study on the degree to which the amount of neuromuscular strength and power possessed by an individual contributes to poor movement patterns when landing from a jump. The inclusion of strength and power training in prevention programs have been shown to improve landing technique as well as decrease the incidence of ACL injury in adult and adolescent athletes. Unfortunately, the majority of these studies have combined strength and power training interventions, and so it is difficult to conclude which method of training is more effective in improving jump landing parameters. The purpose of this project is to first investigate the relationship between the strength and power of the major muscle groups of the hip and knee and the movement patterns demonstrated when landing from a jump in both girls and boys. The secondary purpose is to determine whether high intensity strength or power training involving the legs can change the position of the leg in girls and boys performing a drop jump. The results of this study will help to identify the key muscle groups that contribute to landing patterns which may put a young person at risk for ACL injury. It will also help to focus on the most effective methods of neuromuscular training to use in order to prevent ACL injury. Considering that ACL injuries are physically, emotionally and financially costly and often lead to long term consequences such as knee osteoarthritis, it is important to identify the most efficient and effective ways of preventing this significant injury.