My daughter is a senior in high school and tore her knee anterior cruciate ligament while playing basketball. She had surgery to reconstruct this ligament and is back on the basketball courts. Fortunately, she has scholarship offers for softball and basketball. Which sport would you recommend for her in college and why?

Taking into consideration your daughter's history of previous injury and subsequent knee reconstructive surgery, I would advise softball. Incidents of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in women athletes have been reported in certain sports, such as gymnastics, handball, volleyball and snow skiing. The National Collegiate Athletic Association reported that women basketball players experience four times as many anterior cruciate ligament injuries as their male counterparts. Female soccer players had twice the injury rate compared to men. No conclusive evidence exists to explain the gender difference in this injury. Researchers think light differences in bone anatomy of the knee may be implicated as an etiology. The archway of bone through which the anterior cruciate ligament crosses in the knee is called the intercondylar notch. This notch has been found in several studies to be more narrow in women. It is thought that this finding, as well as increased joint laxity and limb alignment, may be reasons for the greater propensity toward anterior cruciate ligament injuries in women athletes. Sports which require repetitive stopping/starting, pivoting and quick reversal of direction have more potential for producing knee ligament injuries. Basketball has far more of these characteristics than softball. ?