Research Dominance Definitions May Not Identify Higher Risk Limb for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in NCAA D3 Student-Athletes.
Paul A Cacolice, Brianna E Starkey, Christopher R Carcia and 1 others
PMID 35693852WHAT IT FOUND
The leg an athlete chooses to kick a ball with does not predict the leg they prefer to land on.
In 45 NCAA Division III athletes, kicking and landing limb preferences showed almost no relationship, so using kicking dominance to assess ACL risk may miss the higher-risk limb.
Key findings
01Twenty-five participants kicked and landed with the same limb, while twenty chose different limbs.
02The relationship between preferred kicking and landing limbs was statistically insignificant (Phi Coefficient = 0.001; p = 0.97).
03The study found weaker correlations between kicking and landing limb preferences in athletes than previously reported in healthy non-athletes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The sample was heavily skewed toward female athletes (33 female vs 12 male), which limits generalizability to male athletes. Participants were excluded if they had any lower extremity injury in the prior six months, so the results do not apply to athletes returning from surgery or rehabilitation. The study used a specific unilateral landing task; it is unknown if these findings apply to other dynamic movements like cutting or pivoting. The sample size was modest (45 participants), though it met the a-priori power analysis threshold.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest, and there was no external funding reported for this investigation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that kicking dominance is useless for all clinical purposes. This study only shows it does not predict landing preference or ACL risk in this specific athlete population. It does not rule out other uses of kicking dominance, such as assessing motor control or injury history.