"Activation of the hip abductors may help protect players against ACL injury," said Brophy, a former collegiate and professional soccer player.
"Since females have less activation of the hip abductors, their hips tend to collapse into adduction during the kick, which can increase the load on the knee joint in the supporting leg, and potentially put it at greater risk for injury."
Brophy said the study does not establish a cause-and-effect between muscle activation, knee alignment and ACL injuries, but added the data "moves us toward better understanding of what may contribute to differences in injury risk between the sexes and what steps we might take to offset this increased risk in females."
Football or soccer is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States with approximately 20 million registered players, with a large number of them females.
Source-AFP