ABSTRACT
Males and females differ not only in sex-specific organs, but also in physical body structure/shape, most notably skeletal (pelvis/lower limb) morphology, along with sex-specific differences in the neuromuscular and endocrine systems. As such, when engaging in sporting activity or other athletic endeavours, exercising females are exposed to a higher risk of musculoskeletal injury with certain sports, particularly those involving the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee in younger pubescent participants. In addition to inherent/intrinsic, unmodifiable, genetic factors contributing to ACL tears, external/extrinsic, but potentially modifiable factors, may also contribute to knee trauma. Intrinsic factors include genetic predisposition, lower limb alignment, and sex hormones. Extrinsic factors include playing surface, gear worn/equipment used, and biomechanical control/fitness level. The main extrinsic factor, which can be modified to assist in decreasing injury risk, targets the neuromuscular system, by training female athletes to practice landing/reacting with their lower body in a specific manner, so they can reflexively respond with a better protective mechanism for the knee while involved with athletics; however, not all preparatory regimens are the same or equivalent in terms of preventing or decreasing the risk of ACL tears, therefore different types/components of neuromuscular training programmes that have been found most effective against knee trauma/ACL injury are also addressed.
