Author(s): SUN, M., Institution: SHANGHAI UNIVERSITY OF SPORT, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 1617

INTRODUCTION:
Drop jump (DJ), a classic stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) exercise, is critical for exploring lower extremity neuromuscular control and biomechanical mechanisms, and is widely applied in ACL injury risk research. Gender differences and landing patterns (hip/knee-dominant) are core factors affecting DJ lower extremity biomechanics, yet their interactive effects were ignored in previous studies. Female athletes tend to adopt knee-dominant patterns with greater knee valgus and smaller hip/knee flexion angles, leading to higher ACL injury risk, while males mostly use hip-dominant patterns for better impact buffering. This study aimed to clarify gender differences in DJ lower extremity biomechanics under different landing patterns and explore their interaction, providing theoretical and practical basis for gender-differentiated training and injury prevention.
METHODS:
Forty college athletes (20 males, 20 females) aged 18-25 with no lower extremity injuries were recruited. A 2 (gender: male/female) × 2 (landing pattern: hip/knee-dominant) two-factor experimental design was adopted with a fixed 40cm drop height. Vicon 3D motion capture system and Kistler force plates were used for synchronous data collection. Kinematic (hip/knee/ankle angular displacement, KASR, knee valgus range of motion) and dynamic (peak impact force, RSI, joint stiffness, joint work) indicators were measured. After data filtering and normalization, two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used for statistical analysis via SPSS, with Bonferroni correction for post-hoc tests.
RESULTS:
Gender and landing patterns both had significant main effects on DJ lower extremity biomechanics, with a notable interaction on KASR and total valgus knee motion. Females had significantly larger hip/knee/ankle angular displacement and smaller KASR than males, with more prominent knee valgus in knee-dominant pattern. Peak impact force was markedly higher in knee-dominant pattern, with no gender difference. Males showed significantly higher RSI and leg stiffness than females; both genders had better SSC performance in knee-dominant pattern. Males had higher knee/ankle stiffness and greater positive/net joint work of each joint. Hip-dominant pattern featured dominant hip joint energy absorption, while knee-dominant pattern had higher knee/ankle stiffness and more obvious knee joint energy dissipation.
CONCLUSION:
DJ lower extremity biomechanical gender differences relate to physiology and neuromuscular control; landing patterns regulate impact load and energy efficiency. Knee-dominant elevates SSC performance but increases knee load and female valgus risk, while hip-dominant improves buffering and reduces ACL injury risk. Gender-landing interaction needs targeted training: females use hip-dominant strategies to ease knee stress, males adopt knee-dominant patterns for explosive force. This study enriches DJ biomechanics theory and offers quantitative indicators for college athletes’ personalized training and injury prevention.