What’s This Research About?
Does hip strengthening affect ground reactions forces (GRFs) when landing a jump?
In other words, how does proximal stability affect distal mobility?
This study examines how hip strength affects the knees and ankles in female athletes with a history of ankle injury. Why focus on female athletes? Because females are more susceptible to ankle sprains and injuries. More specifically, female interscholastic and intercollegiate
basketball players are 25% more at risk for ankle injuries and 70% likely to have recurring ankle instability.
They hypothesized that increased hip strength (abductors and external rotators) may impact GRFs in female basketball players with limited ankle dorsiflexion.
TITLE: Changes in ground reaction force during a rebound-jump task after hip strength training for single-sided ankle dorsiflexion restriction
PUBLICATION: Journal of Physical Therapy Science
DATE: February 2016
AUTHORS : Hitoshi Kondo and Fujiko Someya
Ground Reaction Force (GRF): In physics, and in particular in biomechanics, the ground reaction force (GRF) is the force exerted by the ground on a body in contact with it.
Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI): ongoing instability in the ankle which leads to and also caused by unstable ankle joints.
Maximum Voluntary Contraction (MVC): In this study maximum voluntary contractions of the hip muscles were measured before and after the intervention to ascertain if there was a change in hip muscle strength. The subject contracts a specific muscle or group of muscles as hard as possible. This contraction is measured, often with a handheld dynamometer.