The Evolution of Movement Assessment in Athletics

Course overview

Current standards for assessing movements that place athletes at risk for injury rely on subjective assessments of movement which results in low positive predictive value of injury risk (Dorrel et al J Athl Train 15, Bushman et al Am J Sport Med 16, Bring et al Clinic J Sport Med 18).  Current literature clearly guides us on what should be assessed when evaluating movements that impact injury risk and which negatively impact performance (Nessler et al J Athlet Ther Train 13, Nessler et al Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med 17, Owusu-Akyaw Am J Sport Med 18, DeBlaiser et al Am J Sport Med 19).  Use of wearable sensor technology is an effective way to measure these movements and significantly impact lower kinetic chain injuries in athletics (Nessler et al J Ortho Res Physio 20, Garner et al In J Kines Sport Sci 20). By leveraging wearable sensor technology to assess movements known to put athletes at risk, this can provide clinicians and strength coaches with actionable data to drive exercise prescription.  With greater than18,000 assessments performed and over 18M data points, this allows clinicians to use big data to drive interventions which directly impact movement.