Ask Coach Wolff

It’s as simple as this: knee injuries, such as a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), have been in sports forever. When I was in high school and college back in the 1970s, if you tore your ACL, you were not only lost for the season, but in many cases, your entire athletic career was over. It was that devastating. Knee injuries were bad news in many ways.

Thank goodness, these days orthopedic surgery has made tremendous advances, and in particular, arthroscopic surgery on injured knees can often get you back on your feet, quite literally, within a matter of weeks.

But all this being said, ACL’s are so common – especially with female athletes – that for years surgeons and trainers have looked for some way to prevent these injuries. And according to Dr. Robert Marx from the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC and one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the world, he’s convinced that there are specific exercises and drills that all young athletes should be doing on a routine basis in order to prevent these injuries. Dr. Marx reports that there are studies from Norway that show these plyometric exercises can prevent more than 50% of these torn ACL’s.

That number is most impressive, and in his new book, THE ACL SOLUTION, Dr. Marx details the kinds of drills that athletes should be doing to help strengthen their knee joints. Standing on wobbleboards, learning how to jump and, more importantly, how to land properly, how to start quickly, and many easy-to-follow drills make this book mandatory for any sports parent, coach, or athletic trainer.

Dr. Marx says that female athletes are much more likely to suffer an ACL tear (by some estimates, 5 to 6 times more likely than their male counterparts). He says that there are all sorts of unproven theories as to why this is, but what he’s more concerned with is trying to prevent these injuries. If you have ever watched women’s soccer at either the college or Olympic level, you will quickly spot how many women wear knee braces to help support their leg joints.

In any event, if your youngster is showing signs of playing competitive sports, you should pick up a copy of Dr. Marx’s book and introduce your child to proper preventive drills to protect their knees. THE ACL SOLUTION is available online at Amazon, or go to Dr. Marx’s website www.TheACLSolution.com.