The effect of simulated basketball game load on patellar tendon load during stop-jump movement

Patellar tendinopathy (PT) is frequently observed among basketball players, particularly in sports involving repetitive jumping movements. However, the overall impact of accumulated exercise load on the patellar tendon is still not fully comprehended. Therefore, the goal of this study is to examine how a simulated basketball game affects the biomechanics of stop-jump movements, specifically focusing on the effects on the patellar tendon. The kinematic and kinetic data were collected immediately after the warm-up and each phase of the simulated basketball game (P1, P2, P3, and P4). A musculoskeletal model was built to calculate patellar tendon force (PTF) and the key biomechanical metrics during the horizontal landing and vertical jumping phases were explored separately, followed by correlation analyses. Linear regression analyses were performed on variables strongly correlated with PTF. The accumulation of load led to significant differences (p < 0.05) in the angles, velocities, torques, work contributions, peak patellar tendon force (PTF), and anterior-posterior ground reaction force (APGRF) observed during the landing and vertical jump phases at the hip, knee, and ankle joints. PTF showed strong correlations with knee flexion angle, knee extension angular velocity, ankle plantarflexion angular velocity, and APGRF, with R2 values of 0.50, 0.58, 0.70, and 0.56, respectively. PTF significantly decreased in P3 and P4, possibly due to the subjects’ adaptation and adjustment of their stop-jump posture strategy after load accumulation, including reducing knee and hip flexion angles and decreasing the net knee extension moment.