Which One of the Controlled Drop Vertical Jump or the Soccer-Specific Tasks Is More Appropriate to Identify Soccer Players at Risk for ACL Injury?

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common in soccer players and have serious sequelae. Detecting a proper tool for identifying soccer players at higher risk of ACL injury is a critical step toward deployment of effective ACL injury-prevention programs. Twenty-eight male soccer players performed controlled drop vertical jump and soccer-specific jump landing tasks. The paired sample t-test showed the mean scores related to the landing error in the soccer-specific task (6.81 ± 1.30) were higher than the mean score of the controlled task (5.1 ± 1.41) and the difference was statistically significant. It can be concluded that male soccer players employed a different landing strategy between controlled and specific soccer tasks. The specific soccer landings task might better help to identify soccer players with poor landing technique and probably at higher risk of sustaining ACL injuries.