Position-Specific Differences in Landing Mechanics Among Division I Women’s Lacrosse Players

Authors

• AMELIA ST. MAURO, Hofstra UniversityFollow
• NICOLE YERYS, Kutztown University, PA
• SCOTT YERYS, Hofstra University
• NICHOLAS FURNARI, Hofstra University
• JACOB FINKELSTEIN, Hofstra University
• LAWRENCE ZELTSER, Hofstra University
• SHIVANI PATEL, Hofstra University
• PANAGIOTIS PANOPOULOS, Hofstra University
• THOMAS JOHANNESSEN, Hofstra University
• ALEXANDER SCHIECK, Hofstra University
• KATIE SELL, Hofstra UniversityFollow

Abstract

Women’s lacrosse (WLAX) requires repeated sprinting, cutting, and jumping throughout game play. Therefore, landing mechanics, countermovement jump (CMJ) performance, and hip or lower quartile (LQ) stability are important attributes that warrant assessment during pre-season in WLAX players. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship among landing mechanics, vertical jump height, and LQ in Division I WLAX student-athletes, and determine whether these measures showed a difference in athlete position. METHODS: Thirty-three Division I (DI) WLAX student-athletes (19.5 ± 1.1 y, 170.4 ± 6.4 cm, 68.1 ± 9.2 kg) volunteered to participate in pre-season screening using the Landing Error Scoring System-Real Time (LESS-RT) approach to analyze landing mechanics, jump performance using a CMJ, and LQ stability using the LQ Y-Balance Test composite scores (LQYBT-CS) for the right and left limbs. Relationships among outcome variables were examined using correlation analyses. Differences between defenders, midfielders (M), and forwards (F) were assessed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with Tukey post-hoc comparisons using SPSS version 30 (IBM Corp) with significance set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Significant differences in position were observed for LESS-RT scores only (F(2,30) = 5.79, p = 0.007, partial η² = 0.28). M demonstrated higher, indicating poorer, LESS-RT scores than F (6.9 ± 1.6 vs. 4.5 ± 1.2, p = 0.007). CMJ was correlated with right and left LQYBT-CS (r = 0.40 and r = 0.48, respectively, p < 0.05) and LESS-RT scores were correlated with left-limb LQYBT-CS (r = -0.36, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Landing mechanics differed by playing position and jumping performance, landing mechanics, and dynamic balance were related in the DI WLAX players in this study. These findings may support pre-season LESS-RT, CMJ, and LQYBT-CS testing to identify position-specific concerns to help guide pre-season conditioning.

Recommended Citation

ST. MAURO, AMELIA; YERYS, NICOLE; YERYS, SCOTT; FURNARI, NICHOLAS; FINKELSTEIN, JACOB; ZELTSER, LAWRENCE; PATEL, SHIVANI; PANOPOULOS, PANAGIOTIS; JOHANNESSEN, THOMAS; SCHIECK, ALEXANDER; and SELL, KATIE (2026) "Position-Specific Differences in Landing Mechanics Among Division I Women’s Lacrosse Players," International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 15: Iss. 9, Article 18.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol15/iss9/18