Abstract des Autors

Ground reaction forces generated on landing after a typical netball manoeuvre were measured in six elite netball players, aged 19-27 years, under three separate conditions: chest pass with heel landing (CH), chest pass with forefoot landing (CF) and high pass with forefoot landing (HF). The peak vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) and peak horizontal bracking force (BF) were calculated for each trial together with the time to reach these peaks. Approach speed correlated significantly with peak VGRF and peak BF. In the chest pass conditions (CH and CF), the peak VGRF was significantly lower with a forefoot landing than with a heel landing and thus the rate of force loading was 30% less with a forefoot landing. No significant difference in peak VGRF was found between chest pass and high pass conditions. When normalised for body weight, the peak BF in the HF trials was significantly less than in the CH condition but when normalised for momentum no difference was found. The approach speed in the HF condition correlated strongly with both peak VGRF and peak BF and was significantly slower than for the CF and CH conditions. This finding implies that the reported modulating effect of a high pass on the ground reaction forces is related to lower approach speed and is not inherent to the high pass. Our findings indicate that alteration of the footfall pattern from a heel to a forefoot landing when receiving a chest pass may reduce the vertical force loading on the leg without affecting a player's speed. Verf.-Referat