Change of direction is vital for athletic performance. However, the high injury risk requires athletes to have the appropriate technical and physical capacities. Helen Bayne discusses the demands of direction changes in sports and identifies key movement patterns for practitioners to address during lower limb injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London runs during drills during Falcons Rookie Minicamp at the Falcons Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Multidirectional sports require frequent changes of direction (COD) while running. To redirect the center of mass, athletes must initially decelerate, reorientate the body, and then accelerate in a new direction(1). Acceleration requires an anteriorly directed (propulsive) ground reaction force (GRF), while deceleration requires a posteriorly directed (braking) GRF. Athletes achieve deceleration by positioning the center of mass behind the ground contact point. Conversely, they accelerate by placing the center of mass in front of the ground contact point (see figure 1). While effecting this transition from deceleration to acceleration, athletes use a variety of preparatory and executory movement patterns to alter their running direction.
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