Female Athlete Baseline Assessment
Why Every Teen Girl in Sports Should Get One
If your daughter plays soccer, volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, cheer, swimming, or any other competitive sport, this post is for you. Female athletes face a unique set of physiological challenges that put them at significantly higher risk for certain injuries — and the research is clear that early identification and intervention makes a real difference.
At Capo Performance Rehab, we offer a Female Athlete Baseline Assessment
specifically designed to address these challenges head-on.
Why Female Athletes Are Different
Female athletes are not simply smaller versions of male athletes. Their anatomy, hormonal profiles, and injury patterns are distinct — and understanding those differences is essential to keeping them healthy and competing at their best.
Here are a few of the key factors:
• ACL injury risk: Girls are 2–8x more likely than boys to tear their ACL, largely
due to anatomical differences in hip width, knee alignment, and neuromuscular control patterns during jumping and cutting movements.
• Relative Energy Deficiency: Female athletes who restrict calories, lose their
menstrual cycle, or have low bone density are at serious risk for stress fractures and long-term health consequences — a condition known as Relative Energy
Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), previously called the Female Athlete Triad.
• Strength asymmetries: Research shows that female athletes often have greater strength imbalances between the quadriceps and hamstrings, which can predispose the knee to injury.
• Growth and development: Girls undergo puberty and rapid growth spurts that temporarily disrupt coordination, change their center of gravity, and alter the way they land and decelerate.
What Is a Baseline Assessment — And Why Does It Matter?
A baseline assessment is a comprehensive snapshot of your athlete’s current physical status: their strength, movement quality, balance, mobility, and injury risk factors. Think of it like a blood panel for your musculoskeletal system — you want to know your numbers before something goes wrong, not after.
Benefits of establishing a baseline early:
• Identifies weaknesses, asymmetries, and movement faults before they become injuries
• Gives your athlete a roadmap for what to work on in the off-season
• Creates a reference point for post-injury rehab — so we know exactly what “fully recovered” looks like for your specific athlete
• Empowers athletes with knowledge about their own body, which improves buy-in for training and injury prevention work
What Our Female Athlete Baseline Assessment Includes
The Capo Performance Rehab Female Athlete Baseline Assessment is a performance- focused evaluation designed for competitive female athletes in middle school, high school, and beyond. It includes:
• Movement assessment: Functional movement screening to identify
asymmetries and compensations
• Strength evaluation: Single-leg strength and stability testing to reveal
imbalances between limbs and muscle groups
• Landing mechanics: Analysis of jump-landing mechanics, deceleration
patterns, and cutting biomechanics that are directly linked to ACL risk
• Flexibility and mobility: Assessment of joint mobility and tissue flexibility
• Training and recovery review: Discussion of training load, sport demands, and recovery habits
Based on the findings, we provide a detailed report and personalized recommendations — whether that’s a targeted strength program, modifications to current training, or follow-up care.
When Is the Right Time to Get Assessed?
The best time is before your athlete gets hurt. We recommend the Female Athlete Baseline Assessment:
• At the start of a new sport season
• After a significant growth spurt
• When returning from any injury, before clearance to full play
• Annually as a routine part of athletic development
South Orange County is home to some of the most competitive youth sports programs in California. Club soccer, AAU basketball, travel volleyball, competitive swimming, and elite cheer programs all make enormous physical demands on young female athletes.
They deserve the same performance-focused care that college and professional athletes receive.
Ready to Get Started?
Schedule your daughter’s Female Athlete Baseline Assessment at Capo Performance Rehab today. Invest in her health before the injury happens — not after.
We serve families throughout San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, San Clemente, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, and the surrounding South Orange County communities.
Capo Performance Rehab
San Juan Capistrano, CA
Capo Performance Rehab is a chiropractic and sports rehabilitation practice in San Juan Capistrano, CA, specializing in performance-first care for athletes and active adults. Our team includes a Certified Chiropractic Sports Practitioner (CCSP®) with expertise in sports injury evaluation, rehabilitation, and performance optimization.