05/28/2026
Kevin Wilk recommends neurocognitive training for every ACL patient in his 2024 IJSPT Clinical Commentary.
This is what that looks like in a real session.
30-second foot fire drill. Right knee ACL patient, six months post-op. Real-time ground contact times on the iPad. Attention on the screen, not the affected leg.
The asymmetry showed up in the data before the hop tests caught it. That is what Chmielewski et al. found in IJSPT 2024: physical clearance does not equal neurocognitive readiness.
Wilk also flagged upper extremity as underutilized. Shoulder, labral, and rotator cuff patients can run the same cognitive-motor protocols. Most clinics have not gone there yet.
What are you using to test cognitive-motor readiness before clearing an ACL patient?