Learning to move, moving to improve
Learning to move, moving to improve
Success in sports depends not only on talent and training, but also on staying healthy. For young athletes, especially in sports like soccer and basketball, knee injuries are a serious concern. An ACL rupture is among the most severe injuries, often keeping athletes off the field for long periods. This dissertation of Eline Nijmeijer presents research on how principles of motor learning can be applied to reduce ACL injury risk.
While traditional training focuses on detailed instructions and quick improvements, the results of this dissertation demonstrate that an alternative approach can be more effective. Using ideas from motor learning research, athletes can improve how they move in a more natural and motivating way. For example, instead of overthinking instructions, athletes can learn implicitly, by watching skilled athletes on video and seeing recordings of their own performance. This helps them adjust their movements without having to consciously think about every detail. Giving athletes more control also matters. Letting them decide when they want feedback increases motivation and the quality of movement. Additionally, positive expectations encourage athletes to try different ways of moving and find what works best for their bodies.
Over 130 male and female team-sport athletes (12-35 years), ranging from recreational to talent level, participated in intervention studies. Simply watching a skilled role model led to short-term changes. However, athletes could also imitate suboptimal movements, which can increase injury risk. In contrast, lasting improvements required the combination of video instruction with video feedback of the athletes themselves. These improvements included bending the hips and knees more and reducing harmful sideways knee motion, changes that are known to lower ACL injury risk. Additionally, wearable sensors proved reliable for measuring movement outside the lab, such as on a soccer field. This enables future research in realistic sports environments and development of on‑field interventions to further reduce ACL injury risk.