ACL Injury Prevention and Athletic Performance Enhancement Programs Developed at Noyes Knee Institute Proven Effective

A series of studies published by Dr. Noyes and researchers at the Noyes Knee Institute have shown that several sports-specific training programs were proven effective in improving athletic performance indicators. The programs were all developed using Sportsmetrics ( http://www.sportsmetrics.org) as a base. Sportsmetrics was the first ACL injury prevention program published in the medical literature in 1995 that was shown to significantly reduce the incidence of noncontact ACL injuries in female athletes. Since then, Dr. Noyes and researchers have continually improved the program and now combine the ACL injury prevention aspects with athlete performance components for basketball, soccer, volleyball, and tennis players. Training is performed 3 times a week for 6 weeks and consists of a dynamic warm-up, jump/plyometric training, strength training, sports-specific speed/agility drills, and flexibility exercises. Athletes undergo a series of tests before the first training session and after the final training session. The training requires supervision by certified coaches/trainers, but only minimal equipment.

The Sportsmetrics Tennis program was initially published in 2010 and a follow-up report will appear in the Journal of Athletic Enhancement in early 2015. This represented the first tennis-specific training program for junior players (not playing on a national level) published in any medical journal. A group of 42 junior players (31 females, 11 males) participated in the program, and a subset of 15 players participated in multiple training sessions an average of 9 months apart. For all players, statistically significant improvements were measured for speed, agility, dynamic single-leg balance, and abdominal endurance. Players who participated in multiple programs continued to improve, although the magnitude of the improvements were smaller than those obtained from the first training program.

The Sportsmetrics Soccer program was studied in a group of 124 female athletes aged 12-18 years. The supervised program was conducted on soccer fields and weight rooms in Cincinnati area high schools. After completion of the program, significant improvements were measured in agility, aerobic power, speed, and vertical jump height. The athletes also improved their landing skills and positioning on a drop-jump test, which we believe reduces the risk of sustaining a noncontact ACL injury.

The Sportsmetrics Basketball program was analyzed in 57 female high school players. Training was conducted in high schools before the beginning of the season. The athletes significantly improved their aerobic power and vertical jump height, along with their landing skills and positioning on a drop-jump test. Aerobic fitness is paramount in basketball because players will experience fatigue as the game progresses that can negatively affect performance.

The Sportsmetrics Volleyball program was conducted in 34 high school female athletes. The supervised sessions lasted 90-120 minutes and were held before the start of the high school season. After training, significant increases were measured in aerobic power, vertical jump height, and abdominal strength. Approximately 70% of the athletes improved in these tests. Significant improvements were also found in landing skills and positioning on a drop-jump test

Article citations:

Barber-Westin SD, Hermeto A, Noyes FR: A six-week neuromuscular and performance training program improves speed, agility, dynamic balance, and core endurance in junior tennis players. In press, J Athletic Enhancement, 2015.

Noyes FR, Barber-Westin SD, Tutalo Smith S, Campbell T: A training program to improve neuromuscular and performance indices in female high school soccer players. J Strength Conditioning Research 27: 340-351, 2013.

Noyes FR, Barber-Westin SD, Tutalo Smith S, Campbell T: A training program to improve neuromuscular and performance indices in female high school basketball players. J Strength Conditioning Research 26: 709-719, 2012

Noyes FR, Barber-Westin SD, Tutalo Smith S, Campbell T: A training program to improve neuromuscular indies in female high school volleyball players. J Strength Conditioning Research 25: 2151-2160, 2011.

Barber-Westin SD, Hermeto A, Noyes FR: A six-week training program to improve neuromuscular indices in competitive junior tennis players. J Strength Conditioning Research 24: 2372-2382, 2010.