BIOMECHANICAL PREDICTORS OF INJURY RISK IN PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES: A KINESIOLOGICAL STUDY

Abstract

 The kinesiological case study investigated major risk biomechanical markers of injury in professional athletes through the literature of lower-limb loading behavior, joint kinemics, kinetic imbalances, and neuromuscular activation behaviors during strenuous sports-specific movements.  We made use of a combined motion-capture plus force-plate technology to study 240 elite athletes in different sports and found statistically significant relationships between abnormal biomechanical patterns and injury events during a 12 months follow-up period.  The findings showed that peak vertical gravity-reaction forces greater than 4.5 times body weight, knee valgus greater than 12 degrees and landing-phase hip internal rotation greater than 18 degrees were significantly linked to non-contact lower-extremity injuries.  Also athletes with over 10 percent bilateral strength imbalance or delayed hamstring activation (greater than 45 ms latency) were at a very large risk of muscle-tendon harm.  In multivariate analysis, it was confirmed that a combination of severe valgus collapse, poor neuromuscular timing and kinetic imbalance were predictive of approximately 72% of injury events.  These results provide further evidence of the importance of screening high-risk biomechanical predictors early and also the development of specific corrective neuromuscular training programs to decrease the incidence of injuries.  The research provides a significant amount of evidence of the necessity of specific biomechanical evaluation to maintain long sports careers, prevention of injuries, and maximum performance in professional sports.