Do Experienced Adolescent Competition Dancers Alter Landing Kinematics and Kinetics for Split Leaps or Center Leaps After Fatigue?

Most injuries that dancers sustain are to the lower extremities, specifically the foot and ankle region. Numerous potential risk factors have been examined for dancer injuries such as technical mistakes and fatigue. The purpose of this study was to compare landing kinematics and kinetics during jumps that are common in dance pre and postfatigue. Ten adolescent advanced level dancers participated in this study. Subjects completed 3 split leaps and 3 center leaps before and after a fatigue protocol performed on a stationary bike. Live motion capture was used to record landing kinematic and kinetic data. Results of this study showed a significant increase in ankle eversion and external rotation angles for center leaps from pre- to postfatigue protocol (P = .020 and P = .020, respectively) as well as significant increases in ankle eversion and knee adduction moments for center leaps (P = .020 and P = .036, respectively). These results show that after a fatigue protocol, there are changes to the kinematics of dancers that may make them more susceptible to ankle injury.