Abstract
Backround
Foot strike pattern (FSP) is defined by the way the foot makes initial ground contact and is influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. This study investigated the effect of running speed on asymmetries of FSP.
Methods
Seventeen female and nineteen male soccer players performed an incremental running test on an instrumented treadmill starting at 2.0 m/s until complete exhaustion. Force plate data were used to categorize foot strikes into rearfoot (RFS) and non-rearfoot strikes. Additionally, peak vertical ground reaction force (peakGRF) and stride time were calculated. The symmetry index (SI) was used to quantify lateral asymmetries between legs.
Results
The SI indicated asymmetries of the rate of RFS (%RFS) of approximately 30% at slow running speed which decreased to 4.4% during faster running speed (p = 0.001). There were minor asymmetries in peakGRF and stride time at each running stage. Running speed influenced %RFS (p
Description
The study analyzes foot strike asymmetries in soccer players at varying running speeds.