• Kew-Wan Kim and Bee-Oh Lim.
• Division of Sports Science, University of Incheon, 119 Academy-Ro, Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon, Korea.
• Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2014 Nov 1; 134 (11): 1565-71.

IntroductionAlthough numerous studies have demonstrated the relationship between maturation and lower extremity biomechanics during landing in team sport athletes, we are presently uninformed of any research that examined the single-legged drop landing biomechanics of gymnasts. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the menarcheal age on the lower extremity biomechanics during a single-legged drop landing in female artistic elite gymnasts.Materials And MethodsTwenty-two female artistic elite gymnasts, between 9 and 36 years of age, participated in this study. The participants were divided into two groups pre- (n = 11) and post- (n = 11) menarche and asked to perform a single-legged drop landing on top of a 30 cm platform and land on a force plate. The statistical analysis consisted of the multivariate analysis with the level of significance set at p < 0.05.ResultsThe post-menarche group showed a decrease in their maximum knee flexion angle and increase in their maximum knee abduction angle, maximum internal tibial rotation angle, maximum knee abduction moment, and hamstring-quadriceps muscle activity ratio compared with the pre-menarche group during the single-legged drop landing.ConclusionsThe post-menarche group showed an increased noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injury risk, due to their greater knee loads, compared with the pre-menarche group.

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