Patellar Tendonitis: Why Fall Sports Can Trigger Jumper's Knee
Why Does Your Knee Hurt When Fall Sports Start?
Summer is coming to a close.
School has started back.
Annnnnddd Fall sports begin.
Suddenly, athletes are practicing multiple days per week, jumping, sprinting, cutting and competing.
For many athletes, this is a dramatic increase in physical demand.
One of the structures that can struggle with this transition is the patellar tendon.
Patellar tendon pain, commonly called jumper's knee, is particularly common in athletes who participate in jumping and high-speed activities.
What Is Patellar Tendonitis?
The patellar tendon connects the bottom of the kneecap to the shinbone.
It plays an important role in transferring force from the quadriceps to the lower leg.
This allows you to:
Jump
Sprint
Accelerate
Decelerate
Squat
Change direction
When the tendon is repeatedly exposed to high loads without enough recovery or adaptation, pain may develop.
Why Fall Sports Are a Perfect Storm
Fall athletes may suddenly combine:
Increased practice volume
Jumping
Sprinting
Conditioning
Strength training
Competition
An athlete who spent much of the summer playing recreationally may suddenly be exposed to several hours of high-intensity training every week.
The issue isn't that the athlete is weak.
The athlete may simply have more demand than current capacity.
Volleyball
Volleyball players repeatedly jump and land.
The patellar tendon is heavily involved in producing force during takeoff and absorbing force during landing.
Repeated jumping can become problematic when training volume increases too quickly.
Basketball
Basketball combines:
Sprinting
Jumping
Cutting
Deceleration
Repeated acceleration
This creates substantial demands on the knee extensor mechanism.
Soccer
Although soccer isn't traditionally considered a jumping sport, the repeated sprinting, cutting, deceleration and kicking demands can also increase stress throughout the lower extremity.
What Should Rehabilitation Focus On?
The answer isn't simply "stretch your quads." A comprehensive rehabilitation plan should build capacity.
This may include:
Quadriceps Strength- The quadriceps are a major contributor to knee force production.
Hip Strength -Hip strength can contribute to lower-extremity control during single-leg movements.
Calf Strength- The calf contributes to force production and shock absorption.
Tendon Loading- The patellar tendon needs progressive exposure to load.
Plyometrics- Later-stage rehabilitation should include jumping and landing when appropriate.
Sport-Specific Training- Eventually, the athlete needs to demonstrate the ability to tolerate the demands of their sport.
Objective Testing
At Carolina Movement Doc, we can use DynaMo to measure strength across multiple muscle groups.
This can help identify:
Strength deficits
Side-to-side differences
Progress throughout rehabilitation
VALD ForceDecks can also provide objective information regarding:
Jump performance
Force production
Landing
Asymmetry
Lower-extremity power
This is especially useful for athletes who want to know whether they're actually ready to return to sport.
Movement Analysis
We may assess:
Squatting
Single-leg squatting
Step-downs
Jumping
Landing
Deceleration
Change of direction
This helps determine how the athlete produces and absorbs force.
Performance-Based Rehab
The ultimate goal isn't simply to get an athlete through a pain-free squat.
It's to prepare them for:
Practice → competition → full-season workload
That requires progressive exposure to the demands of the sport.
At Carolina Movement Doc, rehabilitation can progress from basic strength work into:
Heavy strength training
Single-leg training
Plyometrics
Landing mechanics
Change of direction
Sprinting
Sport-specific drills
When Should an Athlete Be Evaluated?
Don't wait until the athlete cannot participate.
Consider evaluation when:
Knee pain is recurring
Pain increases with jumping
Pain persists after activity
Training volume cannot be increased
The athlete feels weaker than normal
The athlete has a history of recurring tendon pain
Early intervention can help prevent a manageable problem from becoming a major interruption to the season.
If fall sports are increasing your athlete's knee pain, Carolina Movement Doc can help identify the underlying limitations and build a performance-based plan to get them back to doing what they love.
