Preventing the problem
Along with research on why injuries occur, studies have been done to see if the risk of injury can be reduced. The answer, a strong, YES! Several programs with hundreds and over a thousand athletes have demonstrated that both the biomechanical risk factors and the actual rate of ACL injury can be reduced.
Safer deceleration skills
Most injuries occur during the decelearation. Acts of deceleration include landing from a jump, cutting to change direction, and stopping during a sprint. Since females don’t bend their knees as much as males do in these activities, the pressure on the knee joint is increased. The knee is exposed to higher forces per pound of body weight.
Learning to decelerate safely is a skill that can and should be taught early. This includes good technique in landing from jumps and staying low with bent knees and hips during cutting/stopping movements. These maneuvers are motor skills that can be learned, practiced and improved, just like a free throw or serve.
Muscle Control Techniques
Many female athletes use their quadriceps muscles when they are changing direction rapidly without adequately co-contracting the hamstrings. This can put enough force on the shinbone to tear the ACL if the knee isn’t bent enough. By strengthening and using the hamstrings rather than the quadriceps muscles, female athletes can reduce their risk of an ACL injury.
The neuromuscular reactions that help trigger the muscles to protect the ACL while moving can be trained. Increasing the agility of the athlete will reduce stress positions the knee may be in. Proper resistance training will improve the speed at which the muscles fire and inter/intra-muscular coordination to protect the knee.
Conditioning
Injuries happen more often when an athlete is fatiqued. Neuromuscular coordination is reduced, reactions slowed and muscle strength diminished. Both good and general conditioning and specific power/agility training are important to prevent these injuries.