Effects of prophylactic knee bracing on knee joint kinetics and kinematics during single- and double-limb post-catch deceleration strategies in university netballers

PurposeThe aim of the current investigation was to investigate the effects of a prophylactic knee brace on knee joint kinetics and kinematics during single- and double-limb deceleration tasks.MethodsTwenty female university first team-level netballers performed single- and double-limb deceleration tasks under two conditions (prophylactic knee brace/no-brace). Biomechanical data were captured using an eight-camera 3D motion capture system and a force platform. Participants also subjectively rated the comfort/stability properties of the brace, and their knee joint proprioception was examined with and without the knee brace using a weight-bearing joint position sense test.ResultsThe results showed that during both single- and double-limb deceleration tasks, neither peak anterior cruciate ligament [brace: single=1.30/double=1.30 bodyweight (BW) and no-brace: single=1.19/double=1.29 BW] P=0.51, patellofemoral (brace: single=4.21/double=4.93 BW and no-brace: single=3.99/double=4.63 BW) P=0.20, nor patellar tendon (brace: single=6.17/double=6.49 BW and no-brace: single=6.07/double=6.14 BW) P=0.49 kinetics were significantly affected as a function of wearing the knee brace. The findings also showed that the knee brace helped to increase participants' perceived knee stability (P<0.001), but there were no statistical improvements in weight-bearing knee proprioception (brace=3.59 and no-brace=2.94<degrees>) P=0.44.ConclusionsThe current investigation indicates that the utilization of prophylactic knee-bracing akin to the device used in the current study does not appear to reduce the biomechanical parameters linked to the aetiology of knee injuries during netball-specific deceleration movements.