Poor landing biomechanics such as hip adduction, internal rotation, and knee valgus have been recognized as modifiable risk factors of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Dynamic taping is a newly developed technique with better elasticity and extensibility, which could change the landing biomechanics. The purpose of this study was to identify whether dynamic taping could improve lower limb biomechanics in athletes. Forty-two high school volleyball athletes (21 males and 21 females) participated in the study. Biomechanical properties, including the landing error scoring system (LESS) and anterior-posterior knee laxity, were evaluated before and after the application of dynamic tape while athletes performed the jump-landing task. As a result, we found that dynamic tape significantly reduced the faulty landing strategy by an average of 0.64 errors in all volleyball athletes. The effect induced by dynamic tape was more prominent in female athletes and high-risk athletes (1.1 errors). Furthermore, the application of dynamic tape improved anterior-posterior knee laxity, especially in female athletes (p < 0.001). In conclusion, we found that dynamic tape provided a short-term, passive, and clinically significant means to normalize inadequate biomechanics during landing in athlete groups, which could have a protective effect and further alleviate the risk of ACL injury.
Keywords: athletes; dynamic taping; landing error scoring system (LESS); laxity.