Differences In Coordination Variability Between Adolescent And Collegiate Runners

Abstract

Coordination variability (CV) has been used to evaluate changes in running mechanics with aging. To date, studies have focused on young verse older adult runners, and little is known regarding coordination variability in young runners. PURPOSE: To compare CV between adolescent and collegiate runners. METHODS: Participants included 21 adolescent (AR; 12 M/9 F, 12.38 ± 0.80 years) and 21 collegiate (CR; 9 M/12 F, 19.76 ± 1.23 years) runners. Participants ran on a treadmill while kinematics were recorded using a 3D motion capture system. Coordination during early (ES), mid (MS), and late (LS) stance was calculated using a modified vector coding technique for four segment couplings: thigh-shank sagittal (TS-s), thigh-shank transverse (TS-t), thigh sagittal-shank transverse (Ts-St), and shank transverse-rearfoot frontal (SRF). CV was calculated as the circular standard deviation across trials of the orientation of a vector between consecutive time points on an angle-angle plot. 2x3 factorial ANOVAs with post hoc comparisons were used to compare CV between groups and phases of stance. RESULTS: There was a group-by-phase interaction for TS-s (p < .001, Figure 1). AR displayed greater CV during each phase than CR (p < .001). CV was smaller during LS than ES and MS within AR (p < .001) but no phases differed for CR (p > .05). TS-t had main effects of group and phase, where AR had greater CV than CR (p = .01), and LS was greater than ES (p = .001). Ts-St had a main effect of phase where CV during ES was greatest (p < .05), but there was no main effect of group (p = .6). SRF had main effects of group and phase, where AR had greater CV than CR (p = .001) and CV during MS was greatest (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: CV was greater in AR for most couplings. This may be due to ongoing motor development or limited mastery of running movements in AR. Further elucidating these differences may give insight into how CV changes over the life span and what such changes mean for running injuries and performance.