Rolling after landing reduces ankle inversion and rotational parameters during perturbed and unperturbed landings

Lateral ankle sprain is one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries, frequently occurring in team sports involving player contact. Despite the well-documented injury mechanism of lateral ankle sprain, its incidence remains high. This study aimed to investigate the effect of three landing strategies, natural, soft, and rolling after landing, on ankle joint angles, angular velocities, and moments associated with lateral ankle sprain, with and without unanticipated mid-air trunk perturbation. Twenty-eight recreational athletes performed double-leg jumps with single-leg landings under three landing strategies and two perturbation conditions, with motion and force data collected. Ankle angles at initial ground contact, peak angles, angular velocities, and internal net moments during landings were obtained in three planes. Two-by-three repeated-measure ANOVAs were applied (p-value ≤ 0.05). Rolling significantly increased peak ankle eversion angles, decreased peak ankle inversion angular velocity, and reduced peak internal plantarflexion moments and external rotation moments during landing compared to other landing strategies, regardless of perturbation conditions. Perturbation reduced ankle plantarflexion and internal rotation angles at initial contact and peak values, and peak internal ankle eversion moment during landing, among landing strategies. When mid-air perturbation was applied, greater peak ankle plantarflexion angular velocities were observed in natural and soft landings compared to rolling after landing. Rolling after landing appears to reduce ankle inversion and rotational mechanics commonly implicated in lateral ankle sprain mechanisms, particularly under perturbation conditions. Therefore, rolling was associated with reduced ankle moments under both perturbed and unperturbed conditions, suggesting potential mechanical benefits during landing.