National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Prevention of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

This NATA position statement, led by Darin Padua, gives athletic trainers, physicians and other health care and fitness professionals evidence-graded recommendations on preventing noncontact and indirect-contact ACL injuries in athletes and active people.

Its central recommendation is a multicomponent neuromuscular training program that gives feedback on movement technique and includes at least 3 of 5 exercise types: strength, plyometrics, agility, balance and flexibility. Its strongest grades go to these programs for females aged 12 to 18 and for reducing knee injuries other than ACL tears in both sexes, and to targeting athletes in sports with frequent landing, jumping and cutting and people with a previous ACL injury.

It also reports that these programs can improve landing mechanics, balance, strength, power and performance, and it offers guidance on dosage, intensity, who should be targeted and how to put programs into practice, noting that no single program has been shown to be best.