KNEE stands for:
Knee injury prevention for
Netballers and
Enhance performance and
Extend play
It was a program introduced by Netball Australia in 2015 to reduce the number of knee injuries – the most common injury among netball players. Most of these injuries occur when landing.
What is KNEE?
KNEE is a warm-up program completed on-court that attempts to enhance movement efficiency and prevent injury. It is aimed towards three types of players: junior players, recreational players and elite-level athletes. Each type of player has different types of exercise that caters to their individual capabilities and dispositions.
The key principles of KNEE are take-off, good technique – landing, good technique – deceleration and good technique – change of direction. The program is not only for knowledge of injury prevention and warm-up, but also assists the player with body conditioning and movement awareness.
How to use KNEE for injury prevention
To be effective, the KNEE program must be used at least twice per week. Success of the program in contributing towards injury prevention is not only the responsibility of the coach but also of the player. The duty of the coach is to identify risky movement patters, and to teach correct technique whereas the responsibility of the player is to establish an awareness of posture, movement and play.
Where can I access the KNEE Manual?
The program manuals for KNEE are a free digital resource created and maintained by Netball Australia. The manuals, program guides and exercises can be obtained from http://knee.netball.com.au/.
What do the experts say about KNEE?
Netball Australia’s head physiotherapist states that the knee program has the ability to reduce both ACL and all-over lower body injuries across all levels of netball. She states that whilst there are several injury prevention programs available, KNEE is applied directly to netball with its individual demands and unique movement patterns.
With knee injuries as the most prevalent injury type sustained by netballers, it is important to follow a demonstrated injury prevention program. KNEE is endorsed and was developed by the Australian Institute of Sport and aims to reduce knee injuries by up to 70%.