Abstract

Context:  Altered movement patterns, including increased frontal-plane knee movement and decreased sagittal-plane hip and knee movement, have been associated with several knee disorders. Nevertheless, the ability of clinicians to visually detect such altered movement patterns during high-speed athletic tasks is relatively unknown.
Objective:  To explore the association between visual assessment and 2-dimensional (2D) analysis of frontal-plane knee movement and sagittal-plane hip and knee movement during a jump-landing task among healthy female athletes.
Design:  Cross-sectional study.
Setting:  Gymnasiums of participating volleyball teams.
Patients or Other Participants:  A total of 39 healthy female volleyball players (age = 21.0 ± 5.2 years, height = 172.0 ± 8.6 cm, mass = 64.2 ± 7.2 kg) from Divisions I and II of the Israeli Volleyball Association.
Main Outcome Measure(s):  Frontal-plane knee movement and sagittal-plane hip and knee movement during jump landing were visually rated as good, moderate, or poor based on previously established criteria. Frontal-plane knee excursion and sagittal-plane hip and knee excursions were measured using free motion-analysis software and compared among athletes with different visual ratings of the corresponding movements.
Results:  Participants with different visual ratings of frontal-plane knee movement displayed differences in 2D frontal-plane knee excursion (P < .01), whereas participants with different visual ratings of sagittal-plane hip and knee movement displayed differences in 2D sagittal-plane hip and knee excursions (P < .01).
Conclusions:  Visual ratings of frontal-plane knee movement and sagittal-plane hip and knee movement were associated with differences in the corresponding 2D hip and knee excursions. Visual rating of these movements may serve as an initial screening tool for detecting altered movement patterns during jump landings.