The effects of gender and ACL reconstruction on lower extremity coupling variability during performance of randomly cued cutting techniques

Recently, it has been suggested that movement variability – particularly coordination variability – can be functional in reducing the risk of injury. Pollard et al. (2005: Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 21, 143 – 152) reported that females demonstrate lower coordination variability than males during performance of an unanticipated cutting movement. Furthermore, a history of lower extremity injury has been shown to effect lower extremity coordination variability during running (Heiderscheit et al., 2002: Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 18, 110 – 121). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate both the effect of gender and history of ACL injury on lower extremity joint coupling variability during performance of an unanticipated cutting technique.