Date of Award

Summer 2021

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Department

Exercise Science

First Advisor

Ray Thompson

Second Advisor

Jay Patel

Abstract

Intro: In the United States, female basketball players have the second highest rate of ACL injury, following female soccer players. This injury rate is four times higher than their male counterparts. These injuries occur more frequently at the end of the first and second halves and may be associated with exercise-induced fatigue causing knee instability. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the effects of a basketball simulation test on landing mechanics. Methods: Six subjects completed both the intervention and the control trial consisting of four 10-min quarter game simulations of the validated Basketball Exercise Simulation Test (BEST) or on a separate day the equivalent rest. There was Pre- and Post-testing including vertical jumps, single leg triple jumps, drop jumps, and drop cuts as well as abbreviated intermediate testing. Dartfish 2D video analysis was used to assess changes valgus and joint angles for drop jump mechanics and first step time for the drop cut movement. The data were analyzed by a one-way repeated measures analysis of variance for time and a two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures on both intervention and time. Results: Power analysis indicated the study was underpowered, and that 30 subjects were necessary for adequate statistical power; therefore, results were interpreted with p≤0.1 as significant. There were significant interaction findings for measures of RPE (p=0.004, η2 = 0.0057), percent max heart rate (p=0.011, η2 = 0.0113), and for the change in relative trunk angle during the take-off phase of the drop jump (p=0.0073, η2 = 0.36). There was an effect of time on vertical jump height (p=0.0007, η2 = 0.019) and the single leg triple hop on the left leg (p=0.01, η2 = 0.28). There was no intervention effect on vertical jump height or the single leg triple jumps, measures of fatigue, as a result of the BEST. With the exception of the take-off relative trunk angle, there were no significant changes in the trunk, knee, or ankle kinematics during the six different phases of the drop jump and there was no significant effect on time to first step on the drop cut (p>0.05, η2 < 0.1). Conclusion: The data collected indicate that BEST was sufficient to stimulate physical exertion based on RPE and heart rate. However, this exertion did not result in significant changes in vertical jump or single leg triple jump performance, measures for fatigue. Thus, the BEST was not capable of eliciting fatigue in this study. In addition, there was limited significant change in landing kinematics which suggests the BEST did not affect landing mechanics. This result suggests that the lower extremity load of a singular basketball match may not be sufficient for the production of fatigue or joint angle adaptations. Further research is needed to determine whether repeated bouts of exertion will affect those measures or to determine what other factors in addition to the lower extremity load could result in increased injury risk.

Rights

© 2021, Madison Treece

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