Effect of video feedback on landing kinematics in elite female handball players.

Background: In team handball an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury often occurs during landing after a jump shot. Many intervention programs try to reduce the injury rate by instructing the athletes to land safer. Video feedback is an effective way to provide feedback although little is known about its influence on landing technique in sport-specific situations. Objective: To test the effectiveness of a video overlay feedback method on landing technique in elite handball players. Method: Sixteen elite female handball players were assigned to a Control or Video Group. Both groups performed jump shots in a pre-test, two training sessions (TR1 & TR2) and a post-test. The Video Group received video feedback of an expert model with an overlay of their own jump shots in TR1 and TR2 whilst the Control Group did not. Main outcome measures were sagittal ankle, knee and hip angles during initial contact (IC), maximum (MAX) and range of motion (ROM), in addition to the Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) score. One 2x4 repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to analyze group, time and interaction effects of all kinematic outcome measures and the LESS score. Results: The Video Group displayed significant improvement in knee and hip flexion at IC, MAX and ROM. In addition, MAX ankle flexion and their LESS score improved an average of 8.1 in the pre-test to 4.0 in the post-test. When considering performance variables, no differences between Control Group and Video Group were found in shot accuracy or vertical jump height, whilst horizontal jump distance in the Video Group became greater over time. Conclusion: Overlay visual feedback is an effective method to improve landing kinematics during a sport-specific jump shot. Further research is now warranted to determine the long-term effects and transfer to training and game situations.