5 months ago
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Posted On: March 7th 2026, 08:29 pm
Chronic Ankle Instability & Jump Landing Performance 🏀
Continuing the conversation about how we absorb force during a jump landing, I’m shifting gears to the injury-specific implications.
Ankle sprains are the most common injury in basketball. So common that we don’t give them enough attention, especially when considering the long-term impact.
Up to 40% of lateral ankle sprains develop into Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI). With about ¼ of NBA players sustaining an ankle sprain each season and a 1.41× higher recurrence risk for those with a prior history. This is a problem that demands a closer look.
CAI isn’t just an unstable ankle. It changes the way the entire kinetic chain loads and has implications that extend to the central nervous system.
In this post I break down:
1️⃣ What CAI actually is
2️⃣ The burden: How common it is in basketball
3️⃣ The buffer: Why the ankle’s role during landing matters so much
4️⃣ The effects: Injury risk and performance cost when that system breaks down
5️⃣ The playbook: What we actually do about it
By maximizing ankle function during the loading phase and minimizing injury risk, we can reduce the performance trade-offs discussed in the last post and keep athletes on the court.
#basketball #sportphysio #strengthandconditioning #injury #physio
Continuing the conversation about how we absorb force during a jump landing, I’m shifting gears to the injury-specific implications.
Ankle sprains are the most common injury in basketball. So common that we don’t give them enough attention, especially when considering the long-term impact.
Up to 40% of lateral ankle sprains develop into Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI). With about ¼ of NBA players sustaining an ankle sprain each season and a 1.41× higher recurrence risk for those with a prior history. This is a problem that demands a closer look.
CAI isn’t just an unstable ankle. It changes the way the entire kinetic chain loads and has implications that extend to the central nervous system.
In this post I break down:
1️⃣ What CAI actually is
2️⃣ The burden: How common it is in basketball
3️⃣ The buffer: Why the ankle’s role during landing matters so much
4️⃣ The effects: Injury risk and performance cost when that system breaks down
5️⃣ The playbook: What we actually do about it
By maximizing ankle function during the loading phase and minimizing injury risk, we can reduce the performance trade-offs discussed in the last post and keep athletes on the court.
#basketball #sportphysio #strengthandconditioning #injury #physio
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