Quantification Of Limb Loading Asymmetries In Collegiate Basketball Players During Basketball Tasks

Abstract

Lower extremity biomechanical asymmetries have been previously identified in basketball athletes during individual screening tasks. The amount of asymmetry that occurs during basketball-specific tasks is not as well understood. PURPOSE: To identify the extent of lower limb loading asymmetry, as measured by a wearable sensor, that occurs during basketball-specific tasks and to determine whether sex-differences in loading patterns exist between male and female basketball athletes. METHODS: Fifteen NCAA Division-I men’s (n: 7, height: 187.3 ± 15.2 cm, mass: 91.4 ± 20.9 kg) and women’s (n: 8, height: 175.5 ± 10.9 cm, mass: 73.8 ± 11.6 kg) basketball athletes participated in the study. Each participant wore an inertial measurement unit on the distal medial aspect of each tibia while completing a series of basketball-related tasks (i.e. drop vertical jump, single leg countermovement jump), and eight basketball-specific tasks (e.g. dribbling, shooting, cutting, sprinting) over the course of a 30-minute session. The average intensity of each impact as measured by tibial acceleration and impact load as a function of the number and intensity of impacts were used for analysis. 2 (side) x 2 (gender) repeated measures ANOVA with post-hoc independent t-tests were used to identify side-to-side asymmetries and sex differences in intensity and loading variables (α = 0.05). RESULTS: For all participants, there were no significant differences in average loading intensity (dominant limb (D): 10.4 ± 1.5 g, non-dominant limb (ND): 10.1 ± 1.5 g) or impact load (D: 6007 ± 1245 g, ND: 5720 ± 1033 g) between sides (p > 0.05). There were significant sex differences in the average intensity of loading such that female basketball players exhibited greater average loading than males in the dominant (M: 9.5 ± 1.0 g, F: 11.1 ± 1.5 g; p = 0.04) and non-dominant limb (M: 9.0 ± 0.8 g, F: 11.1 ± 1.4 g; p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: No significant loading asymmetries were identified in collegiate basketball players, warranting further study in a natural, non-simulated environment. Significant differences in loading were identified such that female basketball players had higher average loading than male basketball players, potentially due to differences in force attenuation strategies during running, cutting, jumping and landing.