The Association Between Functional Movement Screen Scores and Knee Valgus Moments During Unplanned Sidestep Cutting in Netball

BACKGROUND: Regular employment of three-dimensional (3D) motion analyses to assess and monitor knee valgus moments; a contributor to non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury; during unplanned sidestep cutting (USC) is costly and time-consuming. An alternative quick-to-administer assessment tool to infer an athlete’s risk for this injury could allow prompt and targeted interventions to mitigate this risk. PURPOSE: This study investigated whether peak knee valgus moments (KVM) during weight-acceptance phase of an unplanned sidestep cut were correlated with composite and component scores of the Functional Movement Screen (FMS™). STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional, Correlation METHODS: Thirteen female national-level netballers performed six movements of the FMS™ protocol and three trials of USC. A 3D motion analysis system captured lower limb kinetics and kinematics of each participant’s non-dominant leg during USC. Averages of peak KVM across USC trials were calculated and examined for correlations with composite and component scores of the FMS™. RESULTS: No correlations were found between FMS™ composite or any of its component scores with peak KVM during USC. CONCLUSIONS: The current FMS™ did not show any correlations with peak KVM during USC on the non-dominant leg. This suggests that the FMS™ has limited utility in screening for non-contact ACL injury risks during USC. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3