Clark Kenneth P, Meng Christopher R, Walts Cory T, Ryan Laurence J, Stearne David J
Department of Kinesiology, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, United States.
Department of Athletics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States.
Front Sports Act Living. 2025 Mar 31;7:1535798. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1535798. eCollection 2025.
In this investigation we examined lower extremity angular kinematics and top speed sprinting performance in 98 male intercollegiate athletes with backgrounds in either track and field (TF, = 28) or team sports (TS, = 70). Athletes completed 40 m running trials, with high-speed video recorded from 30-40 m, and 2D sagittal plane motion analysis. Key kinematic variables included: maximum thigh extension and flexion during the swing phase, leg and foot angles of the stance leg at touchdown, swing-leg thigh and knee angles at contralateral touchdown, leg excursion angle during the ground contact phase, thigh total range of motion during the swing phase, and thigh angular velocity and acceleration. Our first hypothesis was that each key kinematic variable would be significantly correlated with top speed both across the entire sample of participants and within groups of TF and TS athletes. Our second hypothesis was that sub-groups of TF and TS athletes of similar top speeds would demonstrate significantly different angular positional strategies. The first hypothesis was partially supported, as each key kinematic variable was significantly correlated with top speed when analyzed across the entire heterogeneous sample (0.30 ≤ | or | ≤ 0.66, < 0.05), but most were not significantly correlated when analyzed within groups of TF or TS athletes. The second hypothesis was fully supported, as substantially different angular positions were demonstrated by Slow TF and Fast TS athletes of similar top speeds, with Fast TS athletes typically exhibiting a less front-side and more ground-based strategy compared to their Slow TF counterparts. In contrast to the angular position variables, the physical capacity to rotate the limbs (thigh angular velocity and acceleration) was correlated with top speed both across the entire sample of participants and within groups of TF and TS athletes. Therefore, this study indicates that when coaching and training team sport athletes, more specific kinematic models may be beneficial for technique and performance enhancement during top-speed sprinting.
在本研究中，我们调查了98名具有田径（TF，n = 28）或团队运动（TS，n = 70）背景的男性大学生运动员的下肢角运动学和最高速度短跑表现。运动员完成40米跑步测试，在30 - 40米处记录高速视频，并进行二维矢状面运动分析。关键运动学变量包括：摆动阶段大腿的最大伸展和屈曲、着地时支撑腿的腿部和足部角度、对侧着地时摆动腿的大腿和膝盖角度、地面接触阶段的腿部偏移角度、摆动阶段大腿的总运动范围，以及大腿的角速度和加速度。我们的第一个假设是，每个关键运动学变量在整个参与者样本以及TF和TS运动员组内都将与最高速度显著相关。我们的第二个假设是，最高速度相似的TF和TS运动员亚组将表现出显著不同的角位置策略。第一个假设得到了部分支持，因为在分析整个异质样本时，每个关键运动学变量都与最高速度显著相关（0.30≤|r|≤0.66，P < 0.05），但在TF或TS运动员组内分析时，大多数变量并不显著相关。第二个假设得到了充分支持，因为最高速度相似的慢速TF和快速TS运动员表现出了显著不同的角位置，与慢速TF运动员相比，快速TS运动员通常表现出较少的前侧策略和更多基于地面的策略。与角位置变量相反，肢体旋转的身体能力（大腿角速度和加速度）在整个参与者样本以及TF和TS运动员组内都与最高速度相关。因此，本研究表明，在指导和训练团队运动运动员时，更具体的运动学模型可能有助于提高最高速度短跑时的技术和表现。
