Research shows that females are 2-8 times more likely to suffer an ACL injury than their male counterparts.  There are a number of theories about the increased number of ACL injuries in female vs. male athletes.  Some of these theories include estrogen levels, biomechanical differences between genders, and muscle strength.  Most likely the mechanism is multifactorial in nature. Additional research is needed and the jury is still out; however, it seems as though many experts do agree that females use their muscles differently and move differently than males. Females tend to play more upright and land more upright than males. This creates a problem because the forces that are produced from the lack of "spring" in the knee can potentially contribute to increased force on the ACL ligament.

Neuromuscular training programs have been shown to be effective in reducing sport related injuries.  My goal is to reach athletes at a young age and help them develop good habits that will, hopefully, prevent them from being sidelined from injury.

The drills in my program are designed to increase power and flexibility, decrease landing forces and improve landing technique. Since the majority of non-contact lower leg injuries result from deceleration forces, my approach is to focus on all aspects of deceleration. Athletes are taught techniques to decrease the harmful forces of stopping and landing. These techniques which are critical to ACL injury prevention include agility, balance, staying lower to the ground, proper jumping and landing, slowing, stopping and pivoting.