Ligament damage in the knees, particularly to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), is a common and oftentimes severe problem, especially amongst athletes. Now experts believe that people can take certain steps to help avoid these injuries, and it all boils down to how one lands on their feet.

A new study has found that through proper training, athletes can reduce the impact on the knee joints and thereby reduce their risk to damaging to the ACL, which is located in the middle of the knee and provides stability to the joint.

Most injuries that occur to the ACL do not involve collisions or improper landings, but rather involve basic or rudimentary movements. The current data, published in the Journal of Biomechanics, highlight the effectiveness that a simple intervention can have on reducing the incidence of these accidents.

To arrive at their findings, researchers enrolled female basketball players from the local schools. They then equipped them with special monitoring equipment and followed their movement with digital cameras in order to observe their movement and muscle activity relative the force being exerted on their knees.

The scientists first studied their normal movements during play, then encouraged them to change their techniques by landing more steeply but on their toes as well as bending their knees more deeply when they jumped.

By employing this simple technique, all of the study subjects were able to lower the shear force on their knee by an average of 56%. Interestingly, the athletes were also reportedly able to jump higher than before without losing speed.

The authors of the study indicate that the data is not proof that employing these techniques will reduce the incidence of injuries to the ACL, and that in order to make this connection, more in-depth clinical trials will need to be done.

There is ample anecdotal evidence that suggests that the impact of these activities may indeed contribute to significant knee injuries. Thus, by encouraging athletes to properly warm up the knees and to focus on landing on the toes or balls of the feet, it may help to lower their risk of hurting themselves.

Old habits, however, are hard to break, and though the athletes in the study initially embraced the changes during practice, they tended to revert to their old way of playing once a game had begun. This may highlight the need for more intensive off-court training to establish and strengthen new ways of using their muscles early in their training and on a more consistent basis.