Force Plates Assessment
Force Plates Assessment
Why Force Plates?
A force plate is a device that allows you to detect and measure the force exerted on to the ground, called a ground reaction force, during exercise or movement. It is useful when studying how athletes and sports people move, including their position, posture and power. This information can greatly help in how those who treat sports injuries, particularly Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries, approach the rehabilitation process.
Force plates help in identifying asymmetries in the person’s movement, as well as detect strength deficiencies and plyometric insufficiencies. This provides physiotherapists with much more detailed information, allowing them to better tailor the patient’s rehabilitation treatment and accelerate the healing process.
In addition, ongoing force plate assessments give physiotherapists a more accurate guideline of when the athlete can be progressed through the treatment programme, or next phase of rehab, without the risk of further injury, and identify when they are able to return to sport.
How Does a Force Plates Assessment Work?
Our experienced physiotherapists at Mint Wellbeing are highly trained in the use of force plates to assess an athlete’s injury, as well as their balance, gait, body symmetry and how they react to changes of pressure.
They use a combination of strength and jump test methods to detect and monitor various metrics.
- Strength tests – these incorporate different bilateral strength testing methods, including isometric mid-thigh pull and squat hold, as well as unilateral strength testing, such as single leg isometric mid-thigh pull and single leg squat hold. The data collected by the force plates determine the athlete’s force output, rate of force development and limb asymmetry, which are all aspects in assessing strength.
- Jump tests – like the strength tests, jump tests incorporate bilateral and unilateral testing methods, including countermovement jump, squat and drop jumps, as well as single leg countermovement jump, single leg drop jump, as well as hop and return. This gives our physiotherapist a good understanding of the sports person’s jump height, peak force and reactive strength.
Is a Force Plates Assessment for Me?
At Mint Wellbeing, we are able to carry out force plates assessments at our state-of-the-art, fully equipped studio in Wimbledon.
We would highly recommend an assessment for anyone who plays active sports to a high level and is experiencing undue stress and strains, including ACL injuries. The use of force plates significantly helps in developing the right rehabilitation programme for your injury, reducing recovery time. We are also able to provide advice on different training methods to avoid re-injury and lessen the impact of initial ACL injuries.
