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DISTANCE RUNNING KINEMATIC ASYMMETRIES: SOCCER PLAYERS VS. CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNERS

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Soccer players and other rotational athletes can develop lower body asymmetries related to kicking, throwing, etc. It is unclear if asymmetries influence running kinematics in a predictable manner. In this pilot study, we compare soccer players to distance runners to determine if soccer players tend to have more asymmetric distance running kinematics. PURPOSE: Assess running asymmetries during stance and swing for the hip and knee (sagittal plane) and determine if there are significant differences between college cross-country runners and soccer players. METHODS: 11 women's soccer players from Division I college soccer players and 11 college cross-country runners. (18.91±1.54) Six Vicon Bonita cameras and 3DGAIT software were used to collect kinematic data (200 Hz). Participants completed their preferred warm-up and then ran 3 minutes on the treadmill (8 minutes/mile). Ten strides were used to generate average stance and swing joint angle plots (normalized to 101 data points). The waveforms were compared for the right and left leg and average difference scores were calculated (to determine the bilateral differences). Dependent t-tests were used to test for significant differences between the runners and soccer players (p=0.05). RESULTS: For knee stance, there was no significant difference (p=0.14) between the runners (3.31°±1.13°). and soccer players (5.25°± 3.99°) For knee swing, there was no significant difference (p=0.39) between the runners (4.16°± 6.32°) and soccer players (.81°±4.26°). For hip stance, there was no significant difference (p=0.37) between the runners (.08°±1.77°) and soccer players (18°±3.56°). For hip swing, there was no significant difference (p=0.64) between the runners (4.99°±3.69°) and soccer players (.32°±2.72°). CONCLUSION: There were no significant group differences in running asymmetries. However, we did have individuals with bilateral differences of 10+ degrees at both the hip and knee. It is important to determine if bilateral differences are relevant to running injuries.

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