In-game video analysis of 39 ACL injuries provides new insight into when male football players are most at risk of ‘non-contact’ ACL rupture. At 4 mins into this podcast, Dr Markus Waldén (@MarkusWalden, Football Research Group, Linkoping, Sweden) shares the gold.

The 3 key scenarios when professional male players rupture their ACLs include (i) a defender pressing and side-stepping suddenly to either stop the attacking player getting by or to reach the ball, (ii) a player regaining balance after kicking, and (iii) a player landing awkwardly after a heading duel. This differs from ‘contact’ ACL injury which was mostly caused by illegal tackles from the side that caused a forceful lateral impact and valgus collapse at the knee. These need to earn red cards.

At 7m 40s Dr Waldén shares the controversy about ‘valgus collapse’. Has this ‘mechanism’ been oversold? Is it more of an immediate result of imbalance rather than a direct cause? To close around 8m 40s, Nicol van Dyk from the BJSM asks what clinicians can do to prevent ACL injuries in professional male football players. What exercise programs can be brought in now?

Links:
Yann Le Meur's (@YLMSportScience) popular infographic is here: http://ow.ly/QUdY3

The full paper in BJSM (free) is here: http://ow.ly/QUezQ
Three distinct mechanisms predominate in non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injuries in male professional football players: a systematic video analysis of 39 cases. Waldén M, et al. Br J Sports Med. 2015 Apr 23.

The special UEFA football issue of BJSM in 2013 - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/12.toc