Abstract
The aim of the study was to examine the acute effect of different lower limb wearable resistance on placement (shank vs thigh) and various loads (1-5% of body mass) upon change of direction (COD) ability. Twelve male soccer players (age: 23.3 ± 2.5 years; height: 179.2 ± 7.4 cm; body mass: 78.3 ± 7.1 kg) performed a change of direction test with different additional loads fixed on either the shank or thigh. Measurement consisted of total time, 90° and 45° split times. large effects of the different wearable resistance placement (p<0.05) and load (p<0.001) were found for total and split change of direction time performance. Change of direction times were higher with shank loading compared with thigh loading. It was concluded that lower limb wearable resistance loading with different loads had an acute effect upon change of direction performance in male soccer players. Furthermore, that distal placement (shank vs thigh) with similar body mass load had a larger effect upon COD performance.
Highlights
Team sports are characterized by frequent episodes of short high-intensity running and longer periods of low-intensity activity [1,2,3]
The unresisted change of direction (COD) times were shorter in total time and in the 45 ̊ split times compared to the loading conditions, while with the 90 ̊ split times they increased with 2% shank and 3% thigh loading
Did total COD time increase between 1% with 3% shank and 1 to 3% thigh loading. 90 ̊ split times increase between 1 and 3% thigh loading and between 2 and 3% shank loading. 45 ̊ split times only increased between 1 and 5% thigh loading, while only a moderate effect was visible between 1 and 2 shank and 1 and 3 thigh loadings (Fig 4)
Summary
Team sports are characterized by frequent episodes of short high-intensity running and longer periods of low-intensity activity [1,2,3] These transitions are quite unpredictable and intermittent during a match [4]. Team sports are characterized by high-intensity movements like sprints, rapid acceleration, deceleration, jumping, blocking, tackling, throwing, kicking and directional changes [5,6,7]. These movements are important factors to achieve a successful performance in various team sports like rugby union, soccer and Australian football [5, 8, 9]. A top-class player performs, on average, 726 ± 203 turns during a single match and the equivalent of 609 ± 193 of these turns are conducted in 0 ̊ to 90 ̊ in direction to the right or left [10]
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