Are We Overlooking Anatomical Contributions to Dynamic Knee Valgus?
Matt Dewald, Madison Andersen, Laura Higgins and 2 others
PMID 39906060WHAT IT FOUND
Cueing athletes to keep their knees straight did not reduce dynamic knee valgus compared to their natural jump.
Static anatomical alignment, not just movement control, explains a significant portion of observed valgus, suggesting clinicians should assess bony structure before correcting form.
Key findings
01Verbal and visual cues to prevent dynamic knee valgus failed to reduce it below the participants' natural jump levels.
02Static knee valgus and Q-angle showed weak but significant positive correlations with dynamic knee valgus during natural jumps, indicating anatomical contributions to movement patterns.
03Sex differences in dynamic knee valgus disappeared when the measurement was normalized for static frontal plane anatomy, suggesting anatomical structure drives the observed difference.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study excluded 15 of the initial 50 participants (30%) because they could not correctly execute the cued dynamic knee valgus jump, which may bias the sample toward those with better motor control. Craig's test was used to measure femoral anteversion, which the authors acknowledge has questioned validity compared to imaging. The sample consisted primarily of college students, limiting generalizability to older or more diverse athletic populations. Participants had a history of previous injury, physical therapy, and jump training, which were not controlled for and may have influenced performance.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the failure of the 'no valgus' cue to mean that dynamic knee valgus cannot be changed, nor that it is harmless. The cue simply did not work in this specific context of a single-leg depth jump. Additionally, do not assume that correcting the visual appearance of valgus will improve jump performance, as jump height did not change despite the large differences in valgus angle during the cued conditions.