Phil Plisky Blog

A Call to Parents acl injury prevention injury risk

Please help guard your kids from their next ACL tear. Please.

As a father of 4 boys, protecting their health and well-being is of utmost importance to me. My wife and I believe sports participation offers our children physical, emotional, and leadership benefits. Unfortunately, sports injuries are ...

Systematic Injury Prevention: Group Testing Case Study functional movement screen injury prevention

Testing One Team Case Scenario

The head coach of the men’s soccer team has requested your consultation to assist with implementing an injury prevention system in preparation for the upcoming season. The soccer team has been plagued with time loss injuries to key players, resulting in several disapp...

Jumpstart Your Injury Reduction Efforts by Discovering Your Why injury prevention

Discovering Your Why

In a previous post, I discussed the characteristics of successful teams utilizing systematic injury prevention. A team transformed their entire organization’s injury prevention system in one season! A key factor was that they started with why.

Why start with why? Because the ...

Are you hitting roadblocks with your injury prevention efforts? functional movement screen injury prediction injury prevention injury risk move2perform

A True Tale of Two Teams: Team #1

A soccer team wanted to reduce injuries. Well, not exactly. The real passion for injury prevention came from a local physical therapist who wanted to reduce injuries on this particular soccer team. The PT volunteered his time and implemented the FMS and Lower Quar...

5 things you should know about injury prevention with teams and large groups group testing injury prevention

So you have decided to take the plunge — you are going to try some injury prevention with a large group or team. You have already talked with the coach and have some “buy in” (if you don’t, start here).

Here are 5 things that will help make your injury prevention successful:

1. Start Small – Just...

Half Kneeling Closed Kinetic Chain Dorsiflexion Test ankle dorsiflexion return to sport

By Phil Plisky, PT, DSc, ATC, OCS, CSCS & Adam Devery, ATC, PTA, CSCS

Ankle sprains are the most prevalent athletic lower extremity injury and many (75%) become recurrent.^1-7 Limited ankle dorsiflexion is a common sequelae after ankle sprain. Researchers have found that limited ankle dorsiflexion...

Tuck Jump & Drop Jump Landing Procedures - The Skill of Jumping drop jump landing return to sport tuck jump

By Phil Plisky, PT, DSc, ATC, OCS, CSCS & Adam Devery, ATC, PTA, CSCS

Valgus collapse gets a lot of press when it comes to discussing risk factors for ACL injury and it is certainly important. There are a few studies that indicate we should be looking at knee alignment with jumping. To us, w...

Return to sport testing case study research acl return to sport

Super proud of Adam Grannan, PT, DPT! As a UE DPT student, he wanted to examine current return to sport testing. Last week at APTA Combined sections meeting, he presented a case study examining physical status at clearance for return to sport after ACL reconstruction.

What did he find on a 16-year...

Best SCS Prep Materials - Sports Certified Specialist Exam Materials exam prep scs sports

Figuring out which resources to use to prepare for the PT board specialty exam can be a daunting process. But with the right study plan and a few key resources, you can ace the test!

There is one thing that you need to know about preparing: You have to use multiple sources in order to be prepared f...

Should our pitchers indoor rock climb in the off-season? baseball pitching

While I am early in forming my opinion on indoor climbing during the off-season, I’m starting to come to some conclusions. There isn’t specific research on the topic, but there is some evidence to support it. Here are some of my thoughts so far:

1) Great scapular and upper extremity stability are...

Hop Testing Protocols For Return to Sport acl hop testing normative data return to sport

By Phil Plisky, PT, DSc, ATC, OCS, CSCS & Adam Devery, ATC, PTA, CSCS

You’ve been working with a patient and it is now time for return to play testing. Hop Testing is a measure of power and energy-storing that can help you test neuromuscular control, strength, and patient’s confidence in the affe...