Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 4, 2026
09:32
Subject-specific Musculoskeletal Model for Studying Bone Strain During Dynamic Motion
Published on: April 11, 2018
9.6K
Variations in jump height explain the between-sex difference in patellar tendon loading during landing.
I Janssen1, N A T Brown, B J Munro
1Biomechanics Research Laboratory, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia; AIS Movement Science, Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, Australia.
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
|January 16, 2014
Summary
Jump height, not sex, is the primary driver of patellar tendon loading in volleyball players. This finding is crucial for understanding and preventing patellar tendinopathy, a common knee injury in athletes.
Area of Science:
- Sports Medicine
- Biomechanics
- Orthopedics
Background:
- Patellar tendinopathy is a prevalent overuse knee injury in volleyball.
- Men exhibit higher injury rates than women, suggesting potential sex-based biomechanical differences.
- High patellar tendon loading is implicated in patellar tendinopathy development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate sex-based differences in landing technique and patellar tendon loading during a volleyball-specific movement.
- To determine if variations in landing biomechanics contribute to higher patellar tendon loading in male versus female players.
- To test the hypothesis that male players generate greater patellar tendon loading due to distinct landing techniques.
Main Methods:
- Collected landing technique and patellar tendon loading data from 20 male and 20 female volleyball players.
- Utilized a lateral stop-jump block movement simulation.
- Employed independent t-tests, controlling for jump height and anthropometric variations.
Main Results:
- Male players were taller, heavier, and jumped from greater heights.
- Significant differences in landing kinematics and knee extensor moments were observed between sexes.
- Unadjusted comparisons showed higher patellar tendon loading in males, but this difference disappeared when matched for jump height.
Conclusions:
- Jump height is a more significant determinant of patellar tendon loading than sex in volleyball players.
- Landing technique differences between sexes do not independently lead to higher patellar tendon loading when jump height is normalized.
- Future research should focus on jump height management to mitigate patellar tendon loading and prevent tendinopathy.
Related Concept Videos
01:16Bones of the Lower Limb: Femur and Patella
8.2K
The femur is the body's longest and strongest bone spanning the thigh region. Its head articulates with the acetabulum of the hip bone to form the hip joint. A minor indentation on the medial side of the femoral head, called the fovea capitis, serves as the site of attachment for the ligament of the head of the femur. This weak ligament spans the femur and acetabulum and supports the hip joint. The narrowed region below the head is the neck of the femur. The inclination angle between the...
8.2K
01:10Ankle Joint
3.4K
The ankle is formed by the talocrural joint (crural = leg). It consists of the articulations between the talus bone of the foot and the distal ends of the tibia and fibula of the leg. The superior aspect of the talus bone is square-shaped and has three areas of articulation. The top of the talus articulates with the inferior tibia. This is the portion of the ankle joint that carries the body weight between the leg and foot. The sides of the talus are firmly held in position by the articulations...
3.4K
01:18Polygenic Traits
58.4K
When more than one gene is responsible for a given phenotype, the trait is considered polygenic. Human height is a polygenic trait. Studies have uncovered hundreds of loci that influence height, and there are believed to be many more. Due to the high number of genes involved, as well as environmental and nutritional factors, height varies significantly within a given population. The distribution of height forms a bell-shaped curve, with relatively few individuals in the population at the...
58.4K
02:32Variation: Normal Distribution, Range, and Standard Deviation
24.7K
In the field of psychology, there are several ways to organize measurements of a trait, feature, or characteristic (i.e., variables). Qualitative data, such as ethnicity, can be tabulated into a frequency count to provide information about the proportion, as well as the variety of groups in a sample or population. On the other hand, researchers can perform a wider set of calculations on quantitative data. The mean, mode, and median, for instance, are central tendency measures to identify a...
24.7K
01:23Knee Joint
3.4K
The knee joint is the most complicated joint in the body. It consists of three articulations– two tibiofemoral and one patellofemoral. As is characteristic of synovial joints, the knee joint has a thin articular capsule that partially surrounds this joint cavity. Additionally, several ligaments, muscles, and cartilaginous structures support the movement of the knee.
A total of seven ligaments support the knee joint. The patellar ligament, which is also attached to the quadriceps femoris...
A total of seven ligaments support the knee joint. The patellar ligament, which is also attached to the quadriceps femoris...
3.4K
01:20Variation in Acceleration due to Gravity near the Earth's Surface
1.9K
An object's apparent weight is its weight measured by a spring balance at its location. It is different from its true weight, the force with which the Earth pulls it, because of the Earth's rotation. Mathematically, an object's apparent weight equals its true weight minus the centripetal force that keeps it in a circular motion along with the Earth's surface every 24 hours.
The difference between the true and apparent weights is proportional to the square of the Earth's...
The difference between the true and apparent weights is proportional to the square of the Earth's...
1.9K