The Sports Life

New Athletic Training Program Helps Basketball Players Reduce Risk of Injury

Milwaukee, WI (PRWEB) May 8, 2007 -- Devastating research shows that approximately 250,000 people will tear their anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) in 2007, with the vast majority being young athletic females between the ages of 15 and 25. http://www.basketball-drills-and-plays.com, a skills enhancement website, has used the risk factors identified by modern research to develop an athletic training program geared for injury prevention.

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important knee ligament that is responsible for a variety of movements that involve the knee. Over 70% of the ACL injuries that will occur this year are non-contact injuries. Basketball athletes are amongst the highest risk groups, especially female basketball players.

In fact, the injury is so common that coaches and athletic trainers expect to see some of their athletes suffer from this injury, and their rosters are adjusted at the beginning of the season to accommodate such a mishap.

Since female athletes suffer most from ACL tears, several questions have been raised: Why does the injury occur so disproportionately amongst women? What are the factors that contribute to this trend?

Exercise scientists and researchers have identified a number of risk factors, including environmental, hormonal, anatomic, and biomechanical. In light of this research, it has been shown that an athletic training program geared towards knee injury prevention reduces the risk of athletes suffering from this injury.

In females, apparently the main causes are proportionately weaker hamstring muscles and the anatomy of the knee. Male athletes with weaker hamstrings and similar knee anatomy are also more likely to injure the ACL.

Several training programs have been developed over the past couple of years to address this issue, and to provide a systematic way to improve athletic performance while lowering the risk of knee injuries.

For example, simply learning how to jump properly and land properly has been shown to offset the risks associated with unfavorable knee anatomy. Balance training and functional strengthening of the hamstrings are also effective ways of injury prevention.

New athletic training programs available at http://www.basketball-drills-and-plays.com, a skills enhancement website, address the weaknesses which contribute to knee injuries, such as poor balance, poor agility, and weak stabilizer muscles. In addition, the website details several basketball drills and tips that help in enhancing neuromuscular output. Female basketball athletes are encouraged to participate in such training programs to lower their risk of injury and improve athletic performance.

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