JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCE & MEDICINE

Research article

THE EFFECT OF MILD SYMPTOMATIC PATELLAR TENDINOPATHY ON THE QUADRICEPS CONTRACTIONS AND THE FENTE MOTION IN ELITE FENCERS

Taegyu Kim1, Eunkuk Kim2, Jongchul Park3 and Hyunyong Kang1

1Department of Sports Medicine and Science, Taereung National Training Center of the Korean Olympic Committee, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Korea University Guro Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 3Department of Sports Science, Korea Institute of Sports Science, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Received   28 August 2011 Accepted   27 September 2011 Published   01 December 2011

© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2011) 10, 700 - 706

ABSTRACT

To investigate how mild symptomatic patellar tendinopathy (PT) affects quadriceps contractions and the Fente motion, this case-control study examined elite fencers who continue to train and play fully with mild tendon pains. Twenty-four elite fencers (10 women) with mild symptomatic PT and 24 controls (10 women) participated in the study. Concentric/eccentric isokinetic strength of the quadriceps was tested, and peak torque and total work were recorded. Kinematic data from the knee during the Fente motion were collected. The first analysis period (P1) was after heel contact to the maximal flexion of the knee, and the second (P2) was right after P1 to heel-off. Normalized peak torque and work of concentric/eccentric contractions were not significantly different. Affected fencers demonstrated significantly reduced angular velocities at P2 (p = 0.042). The male fencers did not demonstrate any differences. The affected female fencers demonstrated significantly weaker concentric peak torque at 60°·s-1 (p = 0. 009) and 180°·s-1 (p = 0.047) and less concentric work at 60°·s-1 (p = 0.020). They also demonstrated significantly reduced average angular velocities at P2 (p = 0.001). Therefore, mild symptomatic PT seems to have an effect on the isokinetic concentric contraction of the quadriceps and the angular velocity of the knee during the backward Fente motion in elite female fencers who are participating fully in training and competition. Key words: Patellar tendinopathy, elite fencers, isokinetic, kinematics.

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