Smith Laura, Jones Paul
Directorate of Psychology and Sport, University of Salford, Salford, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2025 Jul 3;20(7):e0319304. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319304. eCollection 2025.
Force plate testing is commonly used to assess athlete performance. However, there is limited research on the effect the surface underneath the force plate has on derived variables. The aim of this study was to investigate whether different surfaces underneath a force plate would elicit differences in derived force plate variables using a mechanical testing device. A device was used rather than human participants to ensure controlled and repeatable impacts. The device was used to assess force reduction, peak force, rate of force development (RFD) and contact time across seven common testing surfaces: vinyl, rubber, Olympic lifting platform, ground (CarpetG) and first floor (CarpetF) carpet, Mondo track and a sprung gymnasium floor (Sprung). Significant differences in force reduction, peak force, RFD, and contact time were found between flooring conditions (p < 0.05), with large to extremely large effect sizes. Sprung flooring exhibited the highest force reduction and lowest peak forces, while CarpetF demonstrated the lowest RFD and longest contact time. These findings highlight the flooring surface underneath the force plate during testing significantly influenced derived variables. Practitioners should exert caution and consideration to force plate testing location and advocate standardisation in flooring surface in order to ensure consistent and accurate results.
测力台测试常用于评估运动员的表现。然而，关于测力台下方表面对导出变量的影响的研究有限。本研究的目的是使用机械测试装置调查测力台下方不同表面是否会引起测力台导出变量的差异。使用了一种装置而非人类参与者，以确保冲击的可控性和可重复性。该装置用于评估七种常见测试表面的力衰减、峰值力、力发展速率（RFD）和接触时间：乙烯基、橡胶、奥林匹克举重平台、地面（CarpetG）和一楼（CarpetF）地毯、蒙多跑道和弹性体育馆地板（Sprung）。在不同地板条件下，力衰减、峰值力、RFD和接触时间存在显著差异（p < 0.05），效应大小为大到极大。弹性地板表现出最高的力衰减和最低的峰值力，而CarpetF的RFD最低，接触时间最长。这些发现突出表明，测试期间测力台下方的地板表面会显著影响导出变量。从业者在测力台测试位置方面应谨慎考虑，并提倡地板表面的标准化，以确保结果的一致性和准确性。
