JUMP-LANDING MECHANICS IN PATELLAR TENDINOPATHY IN ELITE JUNIOR BASKETBALL ATHLETES

The purpose of this study was to identify key modifiable jump-landing variables associated with patellar tendinopathy (PT). Thirty-six junior elite basketball players (18 men, 18 women) were recruited (8 PT, 11 controls, 17 excluded from statistical analysis). Three-dimensional (3D) landing technique during a stop-jump task and patellar tendon ultrasounds were recorded. A series of mixed-design factorial analyses of variance were used to determine any significant between-group differences. Athletes with PT utilised a lower ground reaction force (GRF) loading rate (LR) via increasing their time duration from initial foot-ground contact (IC) to peak vertical GRF (Fv). This strategy of a lower LR did not lead to those athletes with PT decreasing their peak GRF nor patellar tendon forces (FPT) in comparison to the controls