ACL RETURN TO FOOTBALL CASE STUDY
Kacper, 25, completed his rehabilitation with MY ACL Rehab following a left ACL reconstruction using a patellar tendon graft combined with lateral extra-articular tenodesis (LET). From early post-operative rehabilitation through strength, running, cutting and objective testing, he has now returned to competitive football.
25 YEARS OLD · FOOTBALL · LEFT ACL · PATELLAR TENDON GRAFT + LET
THE GOAL WAS MORE THAN GETTING THE KNEE FEELING BETTER.
Kacper wanted to return to football. That meant rebuilding more than basic knee strength — he needed the capacity to run, sprint, brake, land, cut, react and repeat those actions as fatigue increased.
THE REHABILITATION
A STRUCTURED ONE-TO-ONE ACL PROGRAMME
Kacper completed the MY ACL Rehab One-to-One programme, typically training with us 2–3 times per week. Key physical qualities were reviewed regularly, with objective testing approximately every 2–4 weeks depending on his stage. This guided decisions around strength, running, plyometrics, speed and football-specific progression.
RECOVER → STRENGTH → RUN → JUMP → CUT → FOOTBALL → TEST
These qualities progressively overlap rather than appearing as completely separate phases.
BUILDING THE ATHLETE, NOT JUST THE KNEE
STRENGTH
Quadriceps, hamstring, calf, hip, trunk and single-leg capacity.
PLYOMETRIC PREPARATION
Progressive landing, stiffness and force-reproduction qualities as capacity developed.
RUNNING
Prepared through strength, control and mechanics — not simply started because a certain month had been reached.
FOOTBALL-SPECIFIC WORK
Low-risk ball work first, progressing into acceleration, deceleration, sprinting and change of direction.
REACTIVE MOVEMENT
Unpredictable movement, cutting and repeated football actions under fatigue.
RUNNING PROGRESSION
RUNNING WAS PREPARED — NOT JUST STARTED.
Running was introduced progressively as Kacper developed the strength, control and mechanics needed to tolerate it. Where appropriate, body-weight-supported running and wearable movement monitoring were used to guide progression.
OBJECTIVE TESTING
AT 8 MONTHS: WE TESTED, NOT GUESSED.
At approximately eight months post-operation, Kacper completed a comprehensive ACL performance and return-to-sport assessment.
84/100
OVERALL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
19 cm / 19 cm
SINGLE-LEG CMJ
2.58 s / 2.56 s
5 M SPRINT & RETURN
2.29 s / 2.26 s
3 M SINGLE-LEG HOP & RETURN
0.487 s / 0.485 s
180° REBOUND CONTACT TIME
Most power, sprint, hop and change-of-direction results showed very small differences between sides.
GOOD RESULTS DIDN’T MEAN THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT TO IMPROVE.
14%
LOWER SINGLE-LEG DROP-JUMP REACTIVE STRENGTH ON THE RECONSTRUCTED SIDE
20%
LOWER CALF POWER ON THE RECONSTRUCTED SIDE
These findings changed the priorities of the next rehabilitation block: calf power, reactive stiffness, fast force production, repeated deceleration, cutting and football work under fatigue.
PERFORMANCE UNDER FATIGUE
THE OPERATED LEG MAINTAINED PERFORMANCE AS FATIGUE INCREASED.
REPEATED SL CMJ
19.5 cm LEFT / 20.5 cm RIGHT
SL 10/5 UNDER FATIGUE
0.45 LEFT / 0.46 RIGHT
Football is not one perfect jump or one perfect change of direction. The athlete must reproduce those qualities repeatedly as fatigue increases.
THE OUTCOME
Kacper is now approximately 12 months post-operation and has returned to football. He has now played his first competitive match.
ACL SURGERY → REHAB → TESTING → TEAM TRAINING → MATCH PLAY
Objective testing at eight months helped identify what was ready, what was still missing and what the next rehabilitation priorities needed to be.