FALLING AS A STRATEGY TO DECREASE KNEE LOADING DURING LANDINGS

Anterior cruciate ligament injuries often occur when individuals land with a single leg. Falling has been suggested as a potential strategy to decrease knee loading during landings. The purpose was to compare knee flexion angles, peak impact forces, and peak knee extension moments among natural landings, soft landings, and falling in forward and vertical landing tasks under single or double leg conditions. Sixteen male and sixteen female participants completed each landing condition, while three-dimensional kinematics and ground reaction forces (GRF) were collected. In the natural landing condition, participants landed as they would in a sport setting. In the soft-landing condition, participants landed as softly as possible with increased knee and hip flexion. In the falling condition, participants initially landed softly and then fell forward or backward onto a mat in the forward and vertical landing tasks, respectively. Knee flexion angles at initial contact and peak knee flexion angles were generally the greatest for the falling, the second greatest for the soft landing, and the least for the natural landing. Peak vertical and posterior GRF and knee extension moments during early landing were generally the least for the falling, the second least for the soft landing, and the greatest for the natural landing. When the sports environment allows, falling appears to be an innovative strategy to decrease knee loading when individuals must land with a single leg and sub-optimal body postures