Gender Differences In Soccer

One of the main issues that female athletes run into is that the media tends to focus on the male injuries and the severity of their injuries and completely overlook the females injuries. Male athletes may look like they play sports that are tougher than females do, for example football, but the way female bodies are made they are more prone to get injured in their athletic endeavors. Schmerling emphasizes this issue in “The Gender Gap in Sports Injuries,” saying, “you might think that sports injuries are more common among male than female athletes. That may be true for college and NFL football players, since nearly all are male.

Studies have also shown that women in particular, unfortunately have a disadvantage in life when compared to male counterparts, and that is one pertaining to their higher risk for ACL injury. Due to a neuromuscular imbalance that is concomitant with overactive quadriceps strength compared to hamstring strength, females tend to place more stress on the ACL. Accordingly, this increases the pressure on the ACL leading to a higher prevalence of injury that will arise more on the female spectrum than that of the male (Myer et al., 2009). Furthermore, this is important to be aware of for female athletes and for the Physical Therapists who treat them in efforts to provide educational information regarding the relationship of stronger hamstrings correlating to a lesser chance of ACL injury. Personally, I have worked with athletic females in the past as a personal trainer and while I was not strengthening hamstrings with the direct objective to prevent an ACL injury, I was cognizant of the notion that a balanced quadriceps and hamstring ratio was necessary to avoid lower extremity injuries as a

Dr. Boden of the Orthopedic Center in Rockville states, “Young women are two to eight times more likely than their male counterparts to injure their ACL.” Although there are some factors that put others at a higher risk of tearing their ACL, like this gender one, ACL tears are common and can happen

There have been higher incidences of serious knee injuries among female sports, especially those that include jumping and pivoting. In particular, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury rates are more commonly found in female sports. Previous research has shown ACL injuries are primarily due to noncontact mechanisms that include sudden deceleration, landing, and pivoting maneuvers (Mihata, Beutler, & Boden, 2006; Yu & Garrett, 2007). High-risk sports such as basketball and soccer expose athletes to these potential injuring forces. Despite the many similarities between male and female sports, females often have a higher rate of ACL injures (Mihata et al., 2006).

If instability is evident then the menisci will get injured sooner or later which will set the scene for progressive, degenerative, arthritis of the knee. You can usually tell when an ACL in jury has happened because you will hear or feel a pop during a twisting movement or a fast deceleration which will also come with the inability to continue participation. Which will then be followed by swelling, this is said to indicate a 90% probability of rupture of the ACL. These injuries occur mostly when an individual suddenly stops or plants their foot hard into the ground like a cutting motion, also ACL Failure has been linked to heavy or stiff-legged landing, which can cause the knee rotation while landing, mainly when the knee in put into an abnormal position. Like I said before women or three times more likely to suffer one of these injuries than males, especially in sports such as; association football, Basketball and Tennis. This has been linked with the differences in anatomy because of gender, muscular strength, the reaction time of muscle contraction and coordination. Also training techniques are linked to this. A female’s pelvis is relatively wider than that of males, requiring the angle of the femur to turn towards the knees. The role of genetics is still an ongoing study and is speculative. Many cases of athletes landing flat on their heels has been a common occurrence. As this can cause the tibia to be force into the knee,

Several recent studies demonstrate that the rate of ACL injuries among women can be significantly reduced by following proper neuromuscular training (NMT) and conditioning programs.

Because of their genders, male and Female athletes have different injuries. Many injuries differ according to the athletes gender, furthermore there are numerous type of injuries in sports today. “Specific to body

Female athletes can protect themselves through many stretches and prevention programs provided by their coaches, parents and Athletic Trainers. Many ACL tears can be protected by warm- up or cool-down programs or stretching (Ritter). The solution to preventing some of the ACL injuries is a strength and flexibility programs to strengthen the hamstrings, quadriceps and the core while stabilizing the knee (Busse). Working on the athlete’s techniques such as running, jumping and landing techniques can vastly improve their chances of ACL strength and would help prevent against tears (Malamut). Using an ACL prevention program teaches athletes how to align their hips for correct form and how to jump correctly without pain and without being knock-knee.

Female participation in competitive athletics has increased significantly in recent years. Compared to their male counterparts, they are at a 2 to 10 times greater risk for ACL injury (Edward et al, 2015, p. 368) There are two main mechanisms for an ACL injury: Contact, and non-contact. 70% of all reported ACL injuries are non-contact in nature, whereas the remaining 30% involve contact from an outside force such as an opposing player, a goalpost, or another object on the field or court (Silvers, 2009, p.83).

When an ACL is torn there is usually a whip-like snap of the lower extremity that can be observed as the ACL tears (Ireland, 1999, p.152). In visualizing this high-risk ”position of no return,” we comprehend the importance of a “get-down” knee-flexed, 2-footed balanced position (Ireland, 1999). In the no-return position, the hip abductors and extensors have shut down, and the pelvis and hip are uncontrolled.

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are the most common of knee injuries especially occurring during sports related activity. These types of injuries may lead to short-term disability and as well as possible long-term complications. It is estimated that 80,000 to 100,000 ACL reconstructions are performed every year and a significant percentage of those surgeries are performed on female athletes. Female athletes experience ACL injuries about two or three times more often than men due to how the female body matures and her strength, or lack thereof. Because of the wear on a healthy ACL, the ACL might not last an entire athletic career especially in women. Some of the risk factors are unavoidable, such as hormone changes and gender, but the neuromuscular and biomechanical factors are controllable. If a female athlete can be properly strength trained and takes the necessary precautions, like stretching for flexibility and core training for muscle control and balance, she can greatly reduce the risk of injuring her ACL. If she does not take the necessary precautions and does tear her ACL, surgery is required to replace the torn ACL and rehabilitation of that ligament is necessary before returning to sports (Hewett et al., 2012; Siegel et al., 2012). Despite the advances in surgery, the long-term

Injury of the ACL is now the most common ligamentous injury of the knee and accounts for about 30 injuries per 100,000 of the population (Irrgang, 1996). Over time it became apparent that multiple variables act in combination to influence ACL injury risk(Wojtys, 2003). Risk

In the final analysis, ACL tears are more commonly found in females because of the anatomical structure of women, improper body mechanics, and the differences in female’s circulating hormones. The human female structure has many differences to the male structure, such as muscle stiffness, stronger quadriceps than hamstrings, a wider pelvis bone, and smaller intercondylar notches. These differences in male and female structure can lead to why ACL tears are more frequent in females. Another reason as to why females are more prone to knee ligament tears is because of of the improper body mechanics performed by women. During sports, contact or noncontact studies show that women perform cutting movements that are more erect rather than a crouched

Our study proposes to examine the effects of a training program on high school female soccer athletes in regards to their risk for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear using surrogate markers. A randomized control trial will be employed on eligible female soccer athletes that are age fourteen to eighteen taken from two different schools. We will be using a convenience sample with one school being the control group and the other being the experimental group having a total of 56 participants after accounting for attrition. A seven question screener survey was created for this experiment to help screen out possible confounders. Data will be gathered by careful measuring of the exercises performed. More specifically, weight increase, range of motion increase, and repetitions performed. A proportion test will be used to analyze the data. The purpose of this study is to determine if, at the high school level, a specialized exercise program will help decrease the chance of ACL tears through strengthening the hamstrings.

This randomized study included Twenty-six patients with an acute ACL injury or ruptures of ACL grafts. To be involved in the study patients had to have a unilateral ACL injury, be free of other ligament or meniscal damage that would requiring surgical repair, and pass an examination designed to identify patients who would had the potential to return to a high-level physical activity with nonoperative treatments. Patients also have regular participation in some level I activities (eg, soccer, footbof all, basketball) or some level II activities (eg, racquet sports, skiing, construction work). Patients were randomly assigned to either a group that received the standard