Is your rehabilitation based on how you feel, or how you’re actually performing?
Pain is an important part of recovery, but it doesn’t always tell the full story. It’s common for people recovering from injury to feel “better” long before they’ve regained their strength, power, balance, or confidence.
That’s where VALD ForceDecks come in.
At Physio on the Green, we use this advanced force plate technology to objectively measure how your body is performing. Rather than relying solely on pain or visual assessment, ForceDecks provide real-time data that helps us make informed decisions throughout your rehabilitation and return to sport.
Whether you’re recovering from surgery, managing a tendon injury, or simply wanting to improve your performance, ForceDecks allow us to measure what matters.
What are VALD ForceDecks?
VALD ForceDecks are highly sensitive force plates that measure how you produce and absorb force during movement. Every time you jump, land, squat, balance, or hop on the plates, they record hundreds of measurements that are impossible to see with the naked eye.
This allows us to assess things like:
- Strength and power
- Limb symmetry
- Balance and stability
- Landing mechanics
- Rate of force development
- Tendon function
- Movement strategy
The data is available instantly, allowing us to explain your results in a simple, meaningful way and track your progress over time.
Why Do We Use ForceDecks?
One of the biggest challenges in rehabilitation is knowing when someone is truly ready to progress. Pain often settles before the body has fully recovered. If rehabilitation is based on symptoms alone, people may return to activity with ongoing strength deficits or poor movement patterns that increase the risk of re-injury.
ForceDecks allow us to objectively answer questions such as:
- Is your injured leg producing the same force as your uninjured leg?
- Are you landing evenly?
- Has your power returned?
- Is your tendon functioning efficiently?
- Are you ready to return to running or sport?
Instead of guessing, we can measure.
Returning from Knee or Hip Injuries
After injuries such as an ACL reconstruction, meniscus surgery, patellar tendinopathy, or hip surgery, restoring strength is only part of the picture.
Using movements such as the Countermovement Jump (CMJ), ForceDecks allow us to assess:
- Peak power output
- Jump height
- Limb symmetry
- Concentric impulse (how evenly each leg contributes during take-off)
- Landing forces and asymmetries
- Movement strategies during jumping and landing
Perhaps most importantly, the software includes extensive normative data, allowing us to compare your performance with healthy individuals of a similar age and sex. This helps determine whether you’re simply feeling better or whether you’ve genuinely regained the physical capacity needed to safely return to work, sport, or recreational activity.
Assessing Achilles Tendinopathy
ForceDecks are also incredibly valuable when assessing tendon injuries. For people recovering from Achilles tendinopathy or an Achilles tendon rupture, we often use repeated hopping tests to assess how well the tendon stores and releases energy.
These assessments measure:
- Jump height
- Reactive Strength Index (RSI)
- Ground contact time
- Active stiffness (how effectively the tendon behaves like a spring)
- Limb symmetry
These measures provide valuable insight into tendon recovery and help guide decisions about returning to running, jumping, and higher-level sporting activities.
Much More Than Just Jump Testing
Although jump testing is one of the most recognised applications, ForceDecks can assess a wide variety of movements, including:
- Squat assessments
- Drop jumps
- Lateral jumps
- Single-leg balance
- Isometric strength testing
- Sit-to-stand assessments
- Landing mechanics
- Functional movement testing
This makes ForceDecks useful for everyone from elite athletes to people recovering from everyday injuries or surgery.
Evidence-Based Rehabilitation
At Physio on the Green, we believe rehabilitation should combine your symptoms, clinical assessment, and objective performance data.
ForceDecks allow us to:
- Measure progress rather than guess it
- Identify hidden deficits
- Monitor recovery over time
- Compare your results with age-matched normative data
- Make confident return-to-sport and return-to-work decisions
- Motivate you by showing measurable improvements throughout rehabilitation
Final Key Takeaway
Recovery is about far more than simply being pain-free. To move confidently and reduce the risk of re-injury, your strength, power, balance, and movement quality need to be restored.
Using VALD ForceDecks allows us to accurately measure these qualities, giving you clear, objective feedback throughout your rehabilitation. Whether you’re recovering from surgery, managing a tendon injury, or aiming to perform at your best, ForceDecks help ensure your rehabilitation is guided by data, not guesswork.
If you’d like to learn more about ForceDeck testing or find out how it could support your recovery, book an appointment with our team at Physio on the Green.
Written By Nick De Vries | Physiotherapist
References
McKay, M. J., Baldwin, J. N., Ferreira, P., et al. (2022). Normative reference values for vertical jump performance and lower limb strength across the lifespan. Sports Medicine, 52, 2679–2701.
Impellizzeri, F. M., et al. (2021). Return to sport after injury: Clinical criteria are not enough. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 55, 1099–1100.
Gathercole, R., et al. (2015). Countermovement jump performance monitoring in athletes: A review of current evidence and practical applications. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 37(1), 1–13.
Buckthorpe, M., & Della Villa, F. (2020). Optimising the late-stage rehabilitation and return-to-sport training after ACL reconstruction. Sports Medicine, 50(4), 657–678.
Cormack, S. J., Newton, R. U., & McGuigan, M. R. (2008). Neuromuscular and endocrine responses to competitive sport and their application to monitoring athlete readiness. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 22(2), 358–366.