Nov. 8, 2011 Integrating a coach-led neuromuscular warm-up prior
to sports practice appeared to reduce the risk of lower
extremity injuries in female high school soccer and basketball
athletes, according to a report in the November issue of
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the
JAMA/Archives journals. "In girls' high school sports, injury
rates per 1,000 athlete exposures are highest in soccer (2.36)
and basketball (2.01)," the authors write as background
information in the study. "Knee injuries are the most common
cause of permanent disability in female high school basketball
players, accounting for up to 91 percent of season-ending
injuries and 94 percent of injuries requiring surgery." Cynthia
R. LaBella, M.D., of the Feinberg School of Medicine,
Northwestern University, Chicago, and colleagues, sought to
examine if lower extremity injuries in adolescent female
basketball and soccer athletes could be reduced by incorporating
a neuromuscular warm-up prior to every practice and game. The a