Immediate Effect of Acupuncture on Performance in the Drop Jump Task: A Single-Group Pretest–Posttest Experimental Study

Introduction: Acupuncture is used in sports medicine to treat pain as well as improving athlete's performance. Acupuncture stimulates the nerves and appears to affect the motor cortex. The drop jump (DJ) is a basic training method for enhancing lower extremity strength and jumping height in this study, acupuncture was used to stimulate nerve activation and observe the effect on individual's performance in the DJ task. Methods: Twenty-two male sports students volunteered to participate in sessions consisting of 3 DJ trials, from heights of 30, 40 and 50 cm (DJH30, DJH40, and DJH50, respectively). Data was collected before (pretest) and 20 minutes after acupuncture (posttest); three testing sessions were performed at 7-day intervals. Results: After acupuncture, the impact of the peak ground reaction force was decreased during the posttest at drop jump height of 50 cm (DJH50), and the peak joint moment in the right ankle was increased under the same conditions. Additionally, the angles of the knee and ankle joints in the right leg were increased in the DJH50 posttest. Therefore, acupuncture achieved high levels of improvement within a modest intervention period, reducing pain and increasing knee joint flexion amplitude. Acupuncture did not change the jump height. However, the ground reaction force was reduced in the DJH50 posttest. Conclusions: Acupuncture reduces the impact force during landing and could be used to reduce the risk of sports injury.