Marlene Naicker, Michelle McLean, Tonya M. Esterhuizen and Edith M. Peters-Futre
This study set out to determine the incidence of ankle injuries amongst provincial female field hockey players in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, during the 2004 field hockey season and relate this to their injury and playing profile, proprioceptive ability and peak isokinetic torque of the ankle plantar and dorsiflexor muscles. Players participating in the senior, U21 and U19/high school provincial A teams detailed their hockey playing and training history and injuries sustained during the 2004 season. A subsample of injured and matched, uninjured controls underwent anthropometric, proprioceptive and isokinetic testing. The results showed that poor peak dorsiflexion torque in the injured leg was a factor associated with ankle injury in this sample of injured, elite field hockey players.
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, In Press, Corrected Proof,