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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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BILATERAL GROUND REACTION FORCES AND JOINT MOMENTS FOR LATERAL SIDESTEPPING AND CROSSOVER STEPPING TASKS |
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Gregor Kuntze1, William I. Sellers2 and Neil J. Mansfield1  |
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1Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, England, 2Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, England. |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2009) 8, 1 - 8 Search Google Scholar for Citing Articles |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| Racquet sports have high levels of joint injuries suggesting the
joint loads during play may be excessive. Sports such as badminton employ
lateral sidestepping (SS) and crossover stepping (XS) movements which so
far have not been described in terms of biomechanics. This study examined
bilateral ground reaction forces and three dimensional joint kinetics for
both these gaits in order to determine the demands of the movements on the
leading and trailing limb and predict the contribution of these movements
to the occurrence of overuse injury of the lower limbs. A force platform
and motion-analysis system were used to record ground reaction forces and
track marker trajectories of 9 experienced male badminton players performing
lateral SS, XS and forward running tasks at a controlled speed of 3 m·s-1
using their normal technique. Ground reaction force and kinetic data for
the hip, knee and ankle were analyzed, averaged across the group and the
biomechanical variables compared. In all cases the ground reaction forces
and joint moments were less than those experienced during moderate running
suggesting that in normal play SS and XS gaits do not lead to high forces
that could contribute to increased injury risk. Ground reaction forces during
SS and XS do not appear to contribute to the development of overuse injury.
The distinct roles of the leading and trailing limb, acting as a generator
of vertical force and shock absorber respectively, during the SS and XS
may however contribute to the development of muscular imbalances which may
ultimately contribute to the development of overuse injury. However it is
still possible that faulty use of these gaits might lead to high loads and
this should be the subject of future work.
Key words: Badminton, movement, biomechanics, injury. |
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