It’s a devastating diagnosis.
These injuries are common across our winter sports (footy, netball, and soccer) and, for several reasons, occur more often in females.
As a result, prevention has received increasing attention in recent years.
To understand how we can prevent ACL injuries, we first need to look at how they occur.
There are two common mechanisms.
The first is when a player changes direction or pivots on their knee (often with poor technique).
The second is when a player lands on one leg from a height, often after aerial contact. If the knee buckles and a “pop” is felt or heard, there’s a strong chance of a serious injury.
Physiotherapists have long believed that better preparation and conditioning can reduce this risk.
Training athletes to land and pivot with good technique, strengthening the muscles around the knee, and exposing them to these movements in a controlled environment helps them better handle game-day demands.
Research now supports this.
Sport-specific knee injury prevention programs, performed as part of training warm-ups, significantly reduce injury rates.
Teams that complete them have up to 50% fewer serious knee injuries than those using traditional warm-ups.
These programs take 15–20 minutes and include running, pivoting, hopping, landing, and strength exercises.
They are designed to reflect common game movements, making them practical and relevant.
If your club is tired of losing key players to ACL injuries, it’s worth checking whether your sport offers an injury prevention program.
They’re simple to implement, require minimal equipment, and are highly effective.
Some widely used programs include in netball: The KNEE Program, AFL: Prep to Play and soccer: FIFA 11+.
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