Monday Research Roundup: ACL Injuries in Soccer and Deceleration Training for Tennis

Defending and ACL Injury Risk in Soccer

In a recent study, video analysis of ACL injuries in males and females showed that soccer players are at greatest risk for ACL injury when defending.  In fact, 73% of the injuries analyzed occurred this way.  51% of the injuries happened while tackling another player to gain control of the ball and 15% happened while cutting.

Deceleration Training for Tennis

Tennis players must change direction 3-7 times per point.  Being able to quickly change directions is essential to getting to the ball in time for a killer return shot.  Therefore, deceleration training is incredibly important.  This article by Kovacs et al, addresses deceleration training specific to Tennis players- including both upper and lower body as well as practical applications.