Description:
The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of static stretching in a warm-up on hip flexor and quadriceps flexibility as measured by a modified Thomas test and on range of motion (ROM) of the leg and foot speed at impact in kicking a football with maximum effort. Sixteen Australian Rules (AR) footballers performed two different warm-ups on different days. One warm-up involved five minutes of sub-maximum running followed by seven practice kicks, while the other also included 4.5 minutes static stretching of the hip flexors and quadriceps after the running. A modified Thomas test was conduced before and after each warm-up. Players performed maximum effort drop punt kicks into a net while being videotaped to determine the ROM of the kicking leg and foot speed at impact with the ball. There were no significant changes in flexibility (p>0.05) as a result of either warm-up and there were no significant differences between the warm-ups in the kicking variables (p>0.05). It was concluded that the Thomas test may not have been sensitive to possible acute changes in flexibility from the warm-ups, and that stretching had no influence on kicking ROM or foot speed, possibly because of the complexity of the kicking skill.
Description:
The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of static stretching in a warm-up on hip flexor and quadriceps flexibility as measured by a modified Thomas test and on range of motion (ROM) of the leg and foot speed at impact in kicking a football with maximum effort. Sixteen Australian Rules (AR) footballers performed two different warm-ups on different days. One warm-up involved five minutes of sub-maximum running followed by seven practice kicks, while the other also included 4.5 minutes static stretching of the hip flexors and quadriceps after the running. A modified Thomas test was conduced before and after each warm-up. Players performed maximum effort drop punt kicks into a net while being videotaped to determine the ROM of the kicking leg and foot speed at impact with the ball. There were no significant changes in flexibility (p>0.05) as a result of either warm-up and there were no significant differences between the warm-ups in the kicking variables (p>0.05). It was concluded that the Thomas test may not have been sensitive to possible acute changes in flexibility from the warm-ups, and that stretching had no influence on kicking ROM or foot speed, possibly because of the complexity of the kicking skill.
Description:
Context: Flexibility tests are sometimes thought to be related to range of motion in dynamic activities, but such a relationship remains to be determined. Objective: To determine the correlation between flexibility and hip and knee angles in Australian football kicking. Design: Correlation. Setting: Biomechanics laboratory. Participants: 16 Australian Rules football players. Main Outcome Measures: Hip and knee angles of the preferred kicking leg in a relaxed position were determined with a modified Thomas test. Maximum hip extension, the knee-flexion angle in this position, the maximum knee-flexion angle, and the hip angle at this position during the swing phase of maximum-effort drop-punt kicks were determined. Results: Significant correlations were found between hip flexibility and maximum hip extension (r =.65, P < .01) and hip angle at the maximum knee-flexion angle (r = .70, P < .01). Conclusions: The data indicate a moderate association between hip flexibility and hip angles during kicking.
Description:
Context: Flexibility tests are sometimes thought to be related to range of motion in dynamic activities, but such a relationship remains to be determined. Objective: To determine the correlation between flexibility and hip and knee angles in Australian football kicking. Design: Correlation. Setting: Biomechanics laboratory. Participants: 16 Australian Rules football players. Main Outcome Measures: Hip and knee angles of the preferred kicking leg in a relaxed position were determined with a modified Thomas test. Maximum hip extension, the knee-flexion angle in this position, the maximum knee-flexion angle, and the hip angle at this position during the swing phase of maximum-effort drop-punt kicks were determined. Results: Significant correlations were found between hip flexibility and maximum hip extension (r =.65, P < .01) and hip angle at the maximum knee-flexion angle (r = .70, P < .01). Conclusions: The data indicate a moderate association between hip flexibility and hip angles during kicking.
Description:
The purpose of this study was to present a new methodology for the measurement of agility for netball that is considered more ecologically valid than previous agility tests. Specifically, the agility performance of highly-skilled (n=12), moderately-skilled (n=12) and lesser-skilled players (n=8) when responding to a life-size, interactive video display of a netball player initiating a pass was compared to a traditional, pre-planned agility movement where no external stimulus was present. The total movement times and decision times of the players were the primary dependent measures of interest. A second purpose of the research was to determine the test-retest reliability of the testing approach. Results revealed significant differences existed between the 2 test conditions demonstrating that they were measuring different types of agility. The highly-skilled group was significantly faster in both the reactive and planned test conditions relative to the lesser-skilled group, while the moderately-skilled group was significantly faster than the lesser-skilled group in the reactive test condition. The decision time component within the reactive test condition revealed that the highly-skilled players made significantly faster decisions than the lesser-skilled players. It is reasoned that it is this decision-making component of reactive agility that contributes to the significant differences between the two test conditions. The testing approach was shown to have good test-retest reliability with an intra-class correlation of r= .83.