Authors: Joellen M. Sefton, PhD, ATC; Ceren Yarar, PT, MS; Charlie A. Hicks-Little, PhD, ATC; Jack W. Berry, PhD; Mitchell L. Cordova, PhD, ATC.

Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. February 2011; 41(2)

Commentary by Bruce Craven

The number one predictor of injury is previous injury. With this the ultimate goal of every therapist is to be able to screen an athlete and determine if they are at risk of a certain injury, develop an appropriate corrective exercise training program to address the identified risk factors and hopefully prevent the injury from occurring or rehabilitate the athlete to prevent the recurrence of future similar injuries.

Sefton et al. (2011) indicate that individuals with chronic ankle instability can improve their performance on the Star Excursion Balance Test after 6 weeks of balance training.

In summary, this article, and others referenced in the bibliography, provide us with good evidence to support 1) the importance of screening for specific injury risk, 2) the development of appropriate corrective exercise training programs to improve our scores on the screening tests and 3) the development of rehabilitative training programs to improve the scores on the screening tool to pre-injury level and in time to the sport specific cut score that is indicative of “risk of injury”.