Functional knee stability in non-elite handball: balance and jump performance differ based on players' position

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Biomechanics
• Orthopedics

Background:

• Lack of consensus on return-to-sport decisions after knee injury in non-elite athletes.
• Absence of sport-specific reference data for objective functional knee stability evaluation.
• Need for objective measures to assess knee joint stability in handball players.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess objective measures of knee joint stability using a test battery in non-elite handball players.
• To investigate differences in knee stability based on players' field positions.
• To establish position-specific reference data for functional knee stability.

Main Methods:

• 165 non-elite handball players (mean age 24.3 years) participated.
• A test battery included two-legged and one-legged stability tests, various jump tests (counter movement, plyometric, speedy), and a quick feed test.
• Data analysis focused on identifying significant differences in stability measures across different field positions.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in two-legged stability (p<0.036) and one-legged dominant leg stability (p<0.009) were observed between players of different positions.
• Differences in ground contact time during plyometric jumps (p<0.017) were also significant across positions.
• Other functional tests did not reveal significant position-specific differences.

Conclusions:

• This study provides the first objective data on functional knee stability differences in non-elite handball players.
• Observed differences in functional performance align with position-specific demands in handball.
• Findings underscore the importance of position-specific screening and targeted training for injury prevention.