The Control-Chaos Continuum

Key Point: Use this framework to understand your progression from practice to play to performance.

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AVA isn’t designed to tailor the exercise prescription to your chosen sport yet. Instead, this knowledge section imparts knowledge about the “Control-Chaos” Continuum, a framework that can be used to organize and progress on drills for your chosen sport.

This image is a fabulous example about what the full spectrum of rehab and training should look like, with test markers that this athlete had access to marked along her journey.

The image above is the full outline of the Control-Chaos Continuum applied to soccer. It can be difficult to take in all at once. Instead, rely on these principles to ensure a smooth progression:

  1. Start with highly controlled environments. No contact. Simple technical movements. Straight line emphasis, single planned change of direction. Heavy focus on endurance conditioning
  2. Progress to more involved technical drills with less intensity. Introduce higher paced straight line drills, still planned single change of direction.
  3. Progress to multiple planned change of direction drills. Involve team. Non-contact. Focus on intensive speed efforts
  4. Progress to reactive, unplanned change of direction. Technical drills at full intensity. Straight line drills at maximum speed
  5. Progress to small side games, contact allowed. Acceleration in the scope of the game is small due to the game not allowing full speed development. All technical skills in play. Build up time. All other drills at full intensity
  6. Full contact, full game, reduced time. Monitor fatigue, increase time if endurance with sustained intensity seems doable.

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Whatever sport you plan on returning to, the framework of progressing full control to full chaos should be on your mind. Give your neuromuscular system time to adapt to the technicalities of your sport in progressively more difficult and more attention-demanding scenarios so it can normalize using the knee in those scenarios.

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Taberner M, van Dyk N, Allen T, Jain N, Richter C, Drust B, Betancur E, Cohen DD. Physical preparation and return to performance of an elite female football player following ACL reconstruction: a journey to the FIFA Women's World Cup. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2020 Dec 1;6(1):e000843. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2020-000843. PMID: 34422284; PMCID: PMC8323467.