Epidemiological studies indicate that fatigue is a significant contributor to knee injuries among athletes. Drop-landing (DL) is one of the most prevalent maneuvers in basketball, utilized for jump shots, sudden stops, and passing. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effects of fatigue on basketball players' joint angles, moments, and initial contact times during drop-landing tasks. Method: Fifteen male Division II basketball players (aged 20.43 ± 1.62 years, height: 180.14 ± 3.76 cm, mass: 74.43 ± 7.39 kg) from the Faculty of Sports Science at Ningbo University were recruited. Ten Vicon three-dimensional motion capture cameras were utilized to collect kinematic data from the participants performing deadlifts (DL) before and after fatigue at a frequency of 200 Hz, while a Kistler force plate was employed to gather kinetic data during the experiment at 1000 Hz. The collected kinematic and kinetic data were imported into Visual 3D software, where they were Butterworth filtered at 20 Hz and 50 Hz, outliers were removed, and the data were subsequently exported to SPSS for paired t-tests. The significance level was established at 0.05. Significant differences were observed in joint angle. Post-fatigue exhibited higher ankle external rotation angle (P=0.006) and knee abduction angle (P=0.031). The ankle joint ROM in the transverse plane and coronal plane was significantly larger than pre-fatigue (p=0.036, p=0.020). The knee joint ROM was significantly larger than pre-fatigue (p＜0.001). At the initial contact of the drop landing, the knee joint showed a higher flexion angle (p=0.003). The hip joint angle was not significantly different between pre- and post-fatigue. However, the hip joint flexion moment was significantly higher than pre-fatigue (p=0.019). When performing depth jumps (DL) after experiencing fatigue, participants exhibited greater knee flexion angles at initial contact, indicating an extended duration required to stabilize their bodies post-fatigue during DL. These findings suggest that fatigue induces significant biomechanical alterations, such as diminished joint stability and compensatory movement patterns, which may elevate the risk of injury during dynamic tasks. The results underscore the necessity for fatigue-specific training protocols aimed at enhancing neuromuscular control and mitigating injury risk in athletes.
Rong et al. (Thu,) studied this question.