Predicting lower-extremity injuries in high school football players.

Abstract

To the Editor.— A relationship has been shown in professional football players between ligamentous laxity and knee ligament ruptures requiring surgical correction ( 212 :2236, 1970). A study was conducted with 462 highschool players on 15 teams comprising two leagues to ascertain if a similar relationship held between ligamentous laxity and knee and ankle injuries to such players. Four measures of joint mobility were obtained for each player: (1) the ability to flex the spine with feet together and knees locked, measured on a 10-point scale; (2) the amount of recurvatum of the knee, measured with a goniometer; (3) the angle formed by the two second toes with heels together back to back and feet externally rotated as far as possible, measured to the nearest 5 degrees; and (4) the distance of the knees from the floor while forced down by the seated player's thigh muscles with heels pulled back and