Knee Up

[fvplayer src=’https://vimeo.com/347410937′]

The DWMA Knee-Up is a single movement screen that examines the following kinetic chain joint segments:

• Hip Extension
• Hamstring Extension
• Ankle Stability

TIP #1: Observe the balancing leg, in particular, hip extension and the ankle. If you observe the athlete bending the balancing leg or rising on the toe to achieve leg height, the athlete will need to incorporate the kinetic chain hip mobility and ankle mobility corrective exercises.

MOVEMENT SCREEN INSTRUCTIONS

The next dynamic movement assessment is a single movement I call knee-ups. As the athlete performs this movement, observe how closely the athlete can draw the knee up into the chest without excessive forward leaning or pitching of the upper body, while at the same time maintaining good balanced posture and body control between movement transitions. Specifically, we want to observe hip flexion and extension in the opposing and balancing leg, hamstring extension, and ankle strength instability.

If the athlete struggles to maintain balanced posture and demonstrate a restrictive range of motion during this movement, the athlete is assigned hip mobility and hamstring mobility exercises in combination with ankle mobility and strengthening exercises as illustrated in the kinetic chain corrective exercises video.