Abstract
Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are serious for athletes because healing can take approximately 6–12 months. Some studies have suggested that verbal instruction can help reduce the incidence of ACL injuries. Verbal instruction is divided into two categories: internal focus (IF) verbal instruction and external focus (EF) verbal instruction; however, the optimal type of ACL instruction to prevent injury is unknown. No verbal instructions explicitly focus on the pelvis or trunk, even though proximal control or ACL injury prevention are considered significant. This study aimed to determine whether IF verbal instruction focused on proximal control of the trunk and pelvis girdle impacts jump landing, which has the potential to cause ACL injury in healthy individuals. Methods: Twenty-four healthy subjects with a mean age of 28.54 ± 6.07 years, a mean height of 165.65 ± 7.48 cm, and a mean weight of 63.64 ± 11.45 kg were included in the study. Landing error scoring system (LESS) and frontal plane projection angle (FPPA) were measured during a drop vertical jump task using video cameras positioned in the sagittal and frontal planes before and after IF and EF verbal instructions. Results: There were no statistically significant differences before and after IF or EF verbal instruction in LESS and FPPA. Conclusion: Simple verbal instructions did not affect the risk of ACL injury. Future studies should consider optimal verbal instruction to reduce the risk of ACL injury.
Recommended Citation
Ichikawa, Kazuna; Kuruma, Hironobu; and Knott, Sian
(2025)
"The effectiveness of verbal instruction for reducing anterior cruciate ligament injury risk,"
Asian Journal of Physical Therapy: Vol. 2:
Iss.
2024, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.lmunet.edu/ajpt/vol2/iss2024/2
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