Step characteristic interaction and asymmetry during the approach phase in long jump

Apostolos Theodorou, Vassilios Panoutsakopoulos, Timothy Exell, Polyxeni Argeitaki, Giorgos Paradisis, Athanasia Smirniotou

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    849 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    The aim of this study was to investigate the relative influence of step length (SL) and step frequency (SF) on step velocity (SV) during the approach run of high-level long jumpers and to quantify the asymmetry of these step characteristics. Spatiotemporal data of the approach run were collected during national competition from 10 long jumpers (age 26.2 ± 4.1 years, height 1.84 ± 0.06 m, mass 72.77 ± 3.23 kg, personal best performance 7.96 ± 0.30 m). Analyses were conducted for total approach, early approach and late approach. For the total approach 4/10 athletes were SF reliant and 6/10 athletes favoured neither characteristic. At the early approach, 3/10 athletes were SF reliant and 7/10 athletes favoured neither. During late approach 2/10 athletes demonstrated SL reliance, 7/10 athletes were SF reliant and 1/10 athletes favoured neither. Four athletes displayed significant asymmetry for SL and three for SF. However, no athletes demonstrated significant asymmetry for SV indicating that the asymmetrical demands of take-off do not have a marked influence on step characteristic asymmetry, probably due to the constraints of the event. Consideration should be given to the potentially conflicting demands between limbs for individual athletes.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)346-354
    JournalJournal of Sports Sciences
    Volume35
    Issue number4
    Early online date23 Mar 2016
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Step characteristic interaction and asymmetry during the approach phase in long jump'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this