Interlimb and Intralimb Coordination During Speed Running in American Football Players Training for the NFL Draft
Abstract
Speed is integral to players seeking to be drafted into the National Football League (NFL). To increase speed, coaches promote running symmetry and coordination. Coordination during running is assessed by graphing the relative temporal and spatial patterns of the hip, knee, and ankle, and visually inspecting the resulting angle-angle plots for linearity (in-phase, anti-phase, decoupled). Though qualitative, this method is sophisticated as it examines movement patterns versus discrete points. Therefore, we sought to describe intralimb and interlimb coordination during speed running in elite American football players undergoing a 6-week NFL draft preparation camp. Twelve participants (age, 21.8±0.8 yrs; ht, 1.8±0.05 m; mass, 106.9±15.9 kg) volunteered for this study. Pre and post angular kinematics were collected using a 10-camera motion capture system during a 5 sec treadmill run at 6.5 m/s. Five steps from each limb were analysed. Angle-angle plots of relative sagittal plane hip-knee, knee-ankle and hip-ankle motion were inspected for linearity. Hip-knee was in-phase from initial contact (IC) to midstance (MS), anti-phase from MS to push-off (PO) and decoupled from PO to IC. Knee-ankle was in-phase IC to MS, turning point in-phase MS to PO and decoupled PO to IC. Hip-ankle was in-phase IC to MS, turning point decoupled MS to PO and in-phase PO to IC. While intralimb linearity was generally symmetrical, interlimb knee-ankle and hip-ankle patterns were different indicating that impaired ankle motion may constrain hip and knee motion. These constraints were reduced after 6 weeks. Interlimb coordination may contribute to improving running performance.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Monique Mokha
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-6-2021 12:00 PM
End Date
4-9-2021 12:00 PM
Interlimb and Intralimb Coordination During Speed Running in American Football Players Training for the NFL Draft
Alvin Sherman Library
Speed is integral to players seeking to be drafted into the National Football League (NFL). To increase speed, coaches promote running symmetry and coordination. Coordination during running is assessed by graphing the relative temporal and spatial patterns of the hip, knee, and ankle, and visually inspecting the resulting angle-angle plots for linearity (in-phase, anti-phase, decoupled). Though qualitative, this method is sophisticated as it examines movement patterns versus discrete points. Therefore, we sought to describe intralimb and interlimb coordination during speed running in elite American football players undergoing a 6-week NFL draft preparation camp. Twelve participants (age, 21.8±0.8 yrs; ht, 1.8±0.05 m; mass, 106.9±15.9 kg) volunteered for this study. Pre and post angular kinematics were collected using a 10-camera motion capture system during a 5 sec treadmill run at 6.5 m/s. Five steps from each limb were analysed. Angle-angle plots of relative sagittal plane hip-knee, knee-ankle and hip-ankle motion were inspected for linearity. Hip-knee was in-phase from initial contact (IC) to midstance (MS), anti-phase from MS to push-off (PO) and decoupled from PO to IC. Knee-ankle was in-phase IC to MS, turning point in-phase MS to PO and decoupled PO to IC. Hip-ankle was in-phase IC to MS, turning point decoupled MS to PO and in-phase PO to IC. While intralimb linearity was generally symmetrical, interlimb knee-ankle and hip-ankle patterns were different indicating that impaired ankle motion may constrain hip and knee motion. These constraints were reduced after 6 weeks. Interlimb coordination may contribute to improving running performance.
