What goes up must come down, part II: Consequences of jump strategy modification on dance leap landing biomechanics.

Knee injuries are common in jumping athletes; modifying jump strategy may impact loads placed on the body and reduce injury risk. The purpose of this study was to determine if modifying strategy in a saut de chat leap to focus on height would decrease sagittal plane knee loading. Biomechanical data were collected while 28 dancers performed saut de chat leaps with instructions to jump far (FAR) or jump high (UP). In the UP condition, there was greater vertical GRF and less braking GRF. Also in UP, lower extremity contact angle was greater (71.3 ± 2.9º FAR; 75.8 ± 3.3º UP; p = 0.0178), peak knee extensor moment was greater (2.8 ± 0.7 Nm FAR; 3.2 ± 0.8 Nm UP; p = 0.01), and peak ankle plantar flexor moment was lower (3.19 ± 0.4 Nm FAR; 2.94 ± 0.4 Nm UP; p < 0.01). A more acute LECA was related to greater braking force and braking force was related to greater knee extensor moments. Despite these relationships, we observed greater knee extensor moments in UP. While the relationship among these whole-body variables and knee joint loading exists, it may not be the primary factor driving load distribution during dance leap landings.

What goes up must come down: Consequences of jump strategy modification on dance leap take-off biomechanics.

Chronic foot and ankle injuries are common in dancers; understanding how lower extremity loading changes in response to altered task goals can be beneficial for rehabilitation and injury prevention strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine mechanical demands during jump take-offs when the task goal was modified to focus on either increasing jump distance or increasing jump height. It was hypothesized that a jump strategy focused on height would result in decreased energetic demands on the foot and ankle joints. Thirty healthy, experienced female dancers performed saut de chat leaps while travelling as far as possible (FAR) or jumping as high as possible (UP). Ground reaction force (GRF) impulses and peak sagittal plane net joint moments and sagittal plane mechanical energy expenditure (MEE) of the metatarsophalangeal (MTP), ankle, knee, and hip joints were calculated. During take-off, vertical and horizontal braking GRF impulses were greater and horizontal propulsive GRF impulse was lower in the UP condition. MEE at the MTP, ankle, and hip joints was lower in UP, and MEE at the knee was higher in UP. These results suggest that a strategy focused on height may be helpful in unloading the ankle and MTP joints during dance leaps.