The relationship between joint stiffness and the risk of injury during landing

Stiffness is one of the mechanical characteristic of human body structures that plays an important role in biomechanics of sport movements and can affect the risk of injury. the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the joint stiffness and risk of injury during landing.

In the current study, 20 male physical education students participated voluntarily. They performed vertical hopping tests in three styles, bilateral, unilateral on dominant leg and unilateral on non-dominant leg, with three strategies, preferred and control and the maximal to determine the stiffness of the lower extremity and performed one-leg landing to determine the selected biomechanical variables related to the risk of injury. The relationship between lower extremity stiffness and selected biomechanical variables in landing was determined by Pearson correlation test with significance level of 0.05.

Among the ankle and knee stiffness variables during hopping tests with different strategies (control, preferential and maximal), ankle stiffness during preferential and maximal unilateral hopping tests showed significant and positive relationship with the peak of vertical ground reaction force and the rate of loading, and ankle stiffness During control bilateral hopping tests showed a significant and negative relationship with the mechanical absorbed energy (p <0.05).

According to the results, it can be argued that the high ankle joint stiffness increases the risk of bony injuries such as knee osteoarthritis and stress fractures, while low ankle joint stiffness