Abstract
Blind football, or Football 5-a-side, is a very popular sport amongst visually impaired individuals (VI) worldwide. However, little is known regarding the movement patterns these players perform in sports actions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether visually impaired players present changes in their movement patterns in specific functional tasks compared with sighted amateur football players. Six VI and eight sighted amateur football players performed two functional tasks: (1) 5 m shuttle test and (2) 60 s ball passing against a wall. The sighted players performed the tests while fully sighted (SIG) as well as blindfolded (BFO). During both tasks, full-body kinematics was recorded using an inertial motion capture system. The maximal center-of-mass speed and turning center-of-mass speed were computed during the 5 m shuttle test. Foot resultant speed, bilateral arm speed, and trunk flexion were measured during the 60 s ball passing test. The results showed that VI players achieved lower maximal and turning speed compared to SIG players (p < 0.05), but BFO were slower than the VI players. The VI players presented similar foot contact speed during passes when compared to SIG, but they presented greater arm movement speed (p < 0.05) compared to both SIG and BFO. In addition, VI players presented greater trunk flexion angles while passing when compared to both SIG and BFO (p < 0.05). It is concluded that VI players present slower speed while running and turning, and they adopt specific adaptations from arm movements and trunk flexion to perform passes.
Highlights
The physical fitness of football athletes has been dramatically improved in the last decades, as players are able to run faster and farther during the matches[5]
The aim of this study was to determine whether visually impaired players present changes in their movement patterns in specific functional tasks when compared to sighted amateur football players
We tested for the first time the differences in movement patterns of visually impaired individuals (VI) players compared to sighted players with and without visual feedback
Summary
The physical fitness of football athletes has been dramatically improved in the last decades, as players are able to run faster and farther during the matches[5]. It has been shown that VI goalball and football athletes have similar self-selected walking speed, but lower static balance, when compared to sighted individuals[8] These authors showed that VI players presented a greater fear of falling during sports practices. Evaluating movement patterns of VI football players in specific sports actions can be valuable to describe their disability-related movement limitations For sports activities, IMCs allows recordings of kinematic data in more natural conditions, such as open spaces like football courts This feature from IMCs is highly suitable to record kinematic profiles of VI football players while they perform football movements. The aim of this study was to determine whether visually impaired players present changes in their movement patterns in specific functional tasks when compared to sighted amateur football players. The results of this study can contribute to increasing our understanding of the motor performance of VI individuals
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