Evasive sidestepping as a visual-perceptual-motor skill: implications for anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention

[Truncated abstract] Sidestepping (SS) is a visual-perceptual-motor (VPM) skill performed by team-sport athletes to evade opponent(s). Successful SS depends on a combination of abilities, i.e. to visually perceive the opponent(s), assess the available options to avoid the opponent(s), and then perform the manoeuvre while controlling its considerable dynamics, hopefully without sustaining an injury. Sidestepping is the most common cause of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. To date, the majority of research has focused predominantly on the motor component of SS, while the visual-perceptual contribution has often been overlooked. Contemporary research stresses the importance of addressing the visual-perceptual component of SS by investigating the manoeuvre in conditions that mimic the game environment. Adopting this focus, the aims of this thesis were to: 1) develop a novel three-dimensional (3D) quasi game-realistic stereoscopic stimuli for use in laboratory settings; 2) from an ACL injury risk perspective, investigate the biomechanics of evasive SS performed in response to the 3D stimuli and; 3) examine if the 3D stimuli had different effects on the SS biomechanics of soccer players with different levels of expertise. The first results Chapter in the thesis (3A) documents the development of the stereoscopic 3D system.