Are there any relationships among ankle proprioception acuity, pre-landing ankle muscle responses, and landing impact in man?
Proprioceptive input has been suggested to contribute to the pre-landing muscle responses associated with drop-landing, but its precise role has yet to be delineated. This study set out to examine the relationships among ankle proprioception, pre-landing muscle responses, and landing impact on drop-landing in healthy man. Fifteen healthy male basketball players aged 18 to 26 participated in this study. Passive ankle joint repositioning errors were used to examine ankle joint proprioception. Pre-landing EMG responses in the ankle muscles and the impact force on landing were recorded while the players performed self-initiated drops from a height of 30 cm. Results demonstrated that averaged ankle repositioning errors were significantly correlated with the co-contraction indexes between left tibialis anterior and medial gastrocnemius muscles (TA/MG CoI) (r=0.67, p=0.006), and showed a trend towards a relationship with the right TA/MG CoI (r=0.47, p=0.079). TA/MG CoI from both ankles were further related to the magnitude of the total impact force on landing (r=0.54 and 0.53, respectively; p<0.05). We concluded that male basketball players with less accurate ankle joint sense adopted greater co-contraction of ankle dorsiflexors and platarflexors, which was in turn associated with greater impact force at the moment of landing.
Fu
Siu Ngor
SN
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR), China.
Hui-Chan
Christina Wan Ying
CW
D000328:Adult; D000842:Ankle / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology*; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology