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Abstract

Many athletes in sports that consist of movements with sharp turns, such as women's basketball and soccer, experience a high amount of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in proportion to dancers, who experience low rates of ACL injuries. There has been minimal research on how jump takeoff mechanics differ between dancers and other active individuals. Some previous work has indicated that dancers use greater motion and forces at the ankle joint compared to non-dancers in jumping movements. PURPOSE: To determine the kinetic and kinematic differences between non-dancers and dancers during bilateral squat jump takeoffs. METHODS: Nineteen healthy female participants, 10 dancers and 9 active individuals with no dance experience, performed 5 maximum squat jumps barefoot with reflective markers placed over the upper torso, pelvis, and lower limbs. Jumps were recorded using a 12-camera motion capture system (Motion Analysis), and two force plates (Kistler). Data were processed and analyzed using Cortex software and Visual 3D (C-Motion, Inc.). Peak vertical ground reaction force, sagittal plane lower extremity joint angles, and sagittal plane lower extremity net joint moments for the dominant leg were extracted for further analysis. Independent t-tests were used to compare dependent variables between groups (α≤0.05). RESULTS: There were no significant differences in peak vertical ground reaction force (t(17)=.231, p=.820) or peak jump height (t(17)=.483, p=.635) between dancers and nondancers. There were also no significant differences in peak hip flexion (p=.864), knee flexion (p=.822), or ankle dorsiflexion (p=.545) between dancers and nondancers. There were no significant differences in peak hip (p=.888), knee (p=.102)., or ankle (p=.531) net joint moments between dancers and nondancers. CONCLUSION: Understanding the variables that contribute to takeoff mechanics and how different dancers and groups utilize their takeoff techniques is crucial in determining the risks of injury and differences in movement. Between dancers and non-dancers, no significant differences were found in vertical jumping takeoff mechanics. Further research is needed to more clearly understand whether dancers approach vertical jump takeoffs differently from non-dancers in terms of variables not examined in this study.

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