P4 ACLTM
The OSU Sports Medicine ACL Injury Prevention Program
Predict Prevent Personalize Participate
The OSU Sports Medicine P4 ACLTM Injury Prevention Team wants to help you learn strategies to prevent an ACL injury and perform at the top of your game! Our team consists of expert physical therapists and athletic trainers skilled in training athletes with our evidence-based ACL Injury Prevention program.
Studies have found that training female athletes in appropriate jumping mechanics, working on their proprioception (ability to tell the position of one’s body in space), and taking them through a plyometric (jumping) program can significantly reduce their risk of ACL injury.
What is an ACL injury and how does it happen?
The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is a band of tissue which acts as the primary stabilizer of the knee. ACL tears can be a season-ending injury to athletes. It most commonly occurs in sports involving cutting and jumping, such as soccer and basketball. The mechanism of this type of injury is typically non-contact, when the athlete is twisting, decelerating or jumping. Although the rate of injury is much higher among female athletes, males represent the majority of ACL-injured athletes.
There are many reasons for the difference in injury rates between male and female athletes. They may be anatomical (body structure), hormonal, neuromuscular (lower hamstrings to quadriceps muscle strength ratios) or biomechanical (increased knee angles or motion). The goal of the OSU Sports Medicine ACL Injury Prevention Program is to not only enhance your sports performance but also to reduce your risk of ACL injury.
How can ACL injuries be prevented?
The P4 ACLTM Injury Prevention Program uses evidence-based training techniques to work on jumping mechanics and proprioception as well as strength, speed and agility training to target and address each athlete’s deficiencies. Our program has been developed based on the findings of several important studies which identified certain movement patterns associated with ACL injury risk. The focus of these studies has been young female athletes who tend to demonstrate “risky” movement patterns in adolescence.
The effect of neuromuscular training on the incidence of knee injury in female athletes. A prospective study.
Hewett TE, Lindenfeld TN, Riccobene JV, Noyes FR.
American Journal of Sports Medicine, Nov-Dec 1999
Decrease in neuromuscular control about the knee with maturation in female athletes.
Hewett TE, Myer GD, Ford KR.
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American), August 2004
Biomechanical measures of neuromuscular control and valgus loading of the knee predict anterior cruciate ligament injury risk in female athletes: a prospective study.
Hewett TE, Myer GD, Ford KR, Heidt RS Jr, Colosimo AJ, McLean SG, van den Bogert AJ, Paterno MV, Succop P.
American Journal of Sports Medicine, April 2005
Biomechanical measures during landing and postural stability predict second anterior cruciate ligament injury after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and return to sport.
Paterno MV, Schmitt LC, Ford KR, Rauh MJ, Myer GD, Huang B, Hewett TE.
American Journal of Sports Medicine, October 2010
