10/15/2026
Continuing our monthly series in collaboration with the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, our Research Fellows are helping to bring research to life by selecting articles and highlighting key takeaways for clinical practice.
This month Carey MacDonald highlights new research suggesting that individual movement patterns may reveal more about injury risk than the total Functional Movement Screen (FMS) score.
Researchers followed 85 collegiate basketball players over 12 months to examine the relationship between FMS performance and sports injuries.
Key Takeaways for Clinicians:
♦ Total scores have limitations; the traditional FMS cutoff of ≤14 did not significantly predict injury.
♦ Individual movements matter; Lower Deep Squat scores were associated with increased injury risk, while Hurdle Step scores also differed between injured and uninjured athletes.
♦ Look beyond the score by evaluating individual movement tasks this may provide more meaningful insight during preseason screening.
The clinical takeaway: Focus on movement patterns, not just total scores. Prioritizing Deep Squat and Hurdle Step findings may help clinicians identify movement deficits and guide targeted interventions, rather than relying on a single FMS cutoff to assess injury risk.
Read the full article: https://doi.org/10.26603/001c.162342
