Kinematic analysis of competitive sprinting

Abstract

Sprinting contributes to successful performance in almost all sporting activities. Despite the availability of existing literature and scientific research on the biomechanics of sprinting, there still exists a dearth of knowledge surrounding the successful completion of sprint events. It is evident that ongoing research is required to bridge the gap in achieving success in competitive sprint. The objective of this study was to determine the kinematic analyses of sprinters’ running style in competition situations. Twenty-three 100m sprinters were selected for the study from the “All India Intervarsity Athletic Meeting”. The subjects’ ages (18-25 years), height (156-185 centimeters) and weight (49-75 kg) were documented. The subjects were injury free as the movement performances were video recorded during competition. Two Synchronized Panasonic F15 S-VHS video cameras were used to capture the data, SthSDVD, Photo Studio, Coral-5, Coral–9, Link MPEG Player and SPSS and Microsoft excel software were used to analyse the recorded data. The One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique and critical difference (CD) were used for statistical purpose. The results of the study showed that the kinematic variables i.e. knee angle, hip angle, ankle angle, shoulder rotation and extension had a significant influence on sprinting style. The results indicated that the kinematic variables of running style, knee angle at landing, hip flexion, ankle angle at landing, ankle angle at take-off, shoulder rotation, shoulder extension, heel angle at take-off and stride length exemplified clear effect in sprint performance. Therefore, these variables must be given priority while adopting a specific running style during skill development and training to induce improvements in competitive sprint performance.