title: Biomechanical differences between unilateral and bilateral landings from a jump: gender differences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effect of landing type (unilateral vs. bilateral) and gender on the biomechanics of drop landings in recreational athletes.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used a repeated measures design to compare bilateral and unilateral landings in male and female athletes. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (type of landing*gender) was performed on select variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  Biomechanics laboratory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen female and 16 male recreational athletes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Kinetic, kinematic, and electromyographic (EMG) data were collected on participants while performing bilateral and unilateral landings from a 40-cm platform.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to bilateral landings, subjects performed unilateral landings with increased knee valgus, decreased knee flexion at initial contact, decreased peak knee flexion, decreased relative hip adduction, and increased normalized EMG of the rectus femoris, medial hamstrings, lateral hamstrings, and medial gastrocnemius (P < 0.005). During both types of landing, females landed with increased knee valgus and normalized vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) compared to males (P < 0.009), however, the interaction of landing type*gender was not significant (P = 0.29).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared to bilateral landings, male and female recreational athletes performed unilateral landings with significant differences in knee kinematic and EMG variables. Female athletes landed with increased knee valgus and VGRF compared to males during both types of landing.
authors.affiliation: Division of Physical Therapy, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA. evangelos.pappas@liu.edu
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pappas
authors.forename: Marshall
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hagins
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sheikhzadeh
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nordin
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rose
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007593:Joint Instability; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009519:New York City; D012737:Sex Factors; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology*