Knee Joint Moment during Golf Swing, Drop-landing, and Cutting Maneuver

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess knee joint loading in the target knee during a golf swing compared to loading rates of high impact activities such as cutting and drop landings. Nine healthy competitive golfers completed golf swings with the target foot both straight and externally rotated 30 degrees, as well as drop landings and cutting maneuvers. Motion capture data was collected at 240 Hz and ground reaction force data was collected at 2400 Hz. The frontal and transverse knee moments were examined using repeated measures ANOVA through SPSS. The abduction moments were higher in golf swings as compared to the other high impact activities (p=.010), while the external rotation moments were lower (p=.003). There were no significant differences between externally rotated and neutral golf swings. These results suggest moments applied to the knee during a golf swing are similar to those applied during a high impact activity.