Jumping Asymmetries and Risk of Injuries in Preprofessional Ballet

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Biomechanics
• Dance Science

Background:

• Preprofessional ballet dancers experience frequent lower extremity injuries, often during jumping and landing.
• Interlimb asymmetry in adolescent athletes is linked to injury risk, but this connection remains unexplored in dancers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between interlimb asymmetry during double-leg countermovement jumps (DL-CMJ) and single-leg jumps (SLJ) and subsequent injury risk in adolescent preprofessional ballet dancers.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 255 adolescent preprofessional ballet dancers underwent annual screening, performing DL-CMJs and SLJs on force plates.
• Kinetic variables and jump height asymmetries were calculated, categorized as high or normal based on sample data.
• Injury incidence was tracked over the following academic year, with risk ratios (RRs) computed.

Main Results:

• Of 242 dancers, 128 injuries occurred in the subsequent year. Significant injury risk increases (P < .001) were linked to 3 absolute, 7 left limb-dominant, and 1 right limb-dominant kinetic asymmetries in DL-CMJ, and left limb-dominant SLJ jump height asymmetry.
• Sex-specific analysis revealed non-significant eccentric and landing phase asymmetries in boys.
• Girls showed increased RRs for eccentric and landing phase DL-CMJ asymmetries, while SLJ jump height asymmetry was not significant.

Conclusions:

• Elevated asymmetries in specific kinetic variables during DL-CMJ and SLJ jump height correlate with higher injury risk in elite preprofessional ballet dancers.
• Findings suggest injury risk may be associated with a relative right limb deficit, particularly evident in left limb-dominant asymmetries during takeoff.
• Sex-specific differences in asymmetry-injury associations warrant consideration for targeted injury prevention programs.