ACL Injury Prevention
You can't prevent every ACL tear. You can train the factors you can change.
Many ACL tears are non-contact. Landing, cutting, deceleration, and strength are trainable parts of the picture.
200K+
ACL tears per year in the US
2-8x
Higher risk for female athletes in the same sports
50-70%
Reported reduction in some neuromuscular training studies
Research supports neuromuscular training as one way to reduce non-contact risk, though results vary. Screening can help decide which strength and movement qualities deserve more attention.
The Athletes at Highest Risk
ACL tears do not happen randomly. Certain populations carry significantly more risk, and those are the athletes who benefit most from screening and prevention training.
Female Athletes in Cutting Sports
Soccer, basketball, lacrosse, volleyball. Female athletes have wider Q-angles, different hormonal influences on ligament laxity, and tend toward more quad-dominant, knee-valgus landing patterns. These are modifiable with training.
Post-ACL Reconstruction Athletes
Already torn one ACL? Your other knee may also carry higher risk. Bilateral strength, landing, and cutting work can be part of the return-to-sport plan.
Adolescent Athletes in Growth Phases
Rapid growth changes your body mechanics. The coordination and strength patterns you had at 13 may not work at 15 after a 4-inch growth spurt. Screening during and after growth spurts catches emerging risk factors early.
Athletes with a Family History
Emerging research suggests a genetic component to ACL laxity and injury susceptibility. If a parent or sibling has torn an ACL, screening is worth the investment, especially combined with sport-specific risk factors.
What We Test
The screening identifies your specific risk factors. Not everyone needs the same exercises. Everyone needs the right ones.
Drop Jump Analysis
We film your landing from multiple angles. Knee valgus (inward collapse), asymmetric landing, and stiff-legged patterns are the primary red flags.
Quad-to-Hamstring Ratio
Your quads and hamstrings need to work in balance. A quad-dominant pattern means your hamstrings are not protecting your ACL during deceleration.
Hip Abductor Strength
Weak hip abductors let your knee collapse inward when you plant and cut. This is one of the most common and most fixable risk factors.
Single-Leg Stability
Can you control your body on one leg under fatigue? Single-leg squat, hop-and-hold, and reactive balance testing expose control deficits.
Limb Symmetry
Side-to-side differences in strength, power, and balance increase injury risk. We measure these objectively, not by asking "does it feel even?"
Movement Screening
Cutting, pivoting, and deceleration mechanics under sport-like conditions. Lab-perfect form means nothing if it falls apart at game speed.
What the Program Actually Looks Like
This is not a separate workout stacked on top of your already-packed schedule. Prevention training integrates into your existing strength and conditioning. The targeted exercises take 15-20 minutes and replace generic warm-up work with movements that actually address your risk factors.
Landing Mechanics Training
Progressive jump-landing drills that teach your body to absorb force with proper knee alignment, starting from two feet, progressing to single-leg, and eventually adding sport-specific conditions like fatigue and reaction.
Strength Programming
Targeted hip and hamstring strengthening to correct quad dominance. Nordic curls, hip abductor work, single-leg exercises that build stability under load. Heavy enough to create real adaptation, not just band walks.
Neuromuscular Control
Reactive drills that challenge balance and coordination under unpredictable conditions. Sport does not happen in a controlled environment. Your prevention training should not either.
Free phone consultation. No commitment, no insurance needed.
Already Torn One ACL? Your Other Knee Needs Attention.
This is the part most surgeons mention briefly and most PT clinics ignore entirely. After ACL reconstruction, your contralateral knee (the one that was not operated on) is at significantly elevated risk for ACL tear. In some studies, as high as a 30% chance in young athletes returning to high-level sport.
Why? Multiple factors. During rehab, you compensate heavily to the non-surgical side. Your landing patterns shift. You develop a preference for pushing off and decelerating with the “good” leg. That leg absorbs more force than it was designed for, under mechanics that are often suboptimal.
Bilateral training can be part of the return-to-sport process. If your rehab program ended when the surgical knee hit its benchmarks without addressing the other side, there is a gap in your recovery.
Frequently Asked Questions
ACL Prevention
The best ACL surgery is the one you never need.
A 90-minute screening reviews strength and movement factors associated with ACL injury risk. The follow-up work can fit into a warm-up or strength program.
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