Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Human Movement. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Human Movement, 64, 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.humov.2019.02.016
Accepted author manuscript, 690 KB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC-ND: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
| <mark>Journal publication date</mark> | 1/04/2019 |
|---|---|
| <mark>Journal</mark> | Human Movement Science |
| Volume | 64 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Pages (from-to) | 320-328 |
| Publication Status | Published |
| Early online date | 2/03/19 |
| <mark>Original language</mark> | English |
Limited evidence is available concerning ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (DF ROM) and its relationship with landing performance from varying drop heights. The aim of this investigation was to determine the relationship between ankle DF ROM and both kinetic and kinematic variables measured during bilateral drop-landings from 50%, 100% and 150% of countermovement jump height. Thirty-nine participants were measured for their ankle DF ROM using the weight-bearing lunge test, after which five bilateral drop-landings were performed from 50%, 100% and 150% of maximal countermovement jump height. Normalized peak vertical ground reaction force (vGRF), time to peak vGRF and loading rate was calculated for analysis, alongside sagittal-plane initial contact angles, peak angles and joint displacement for the hip, knee and ankle. Frontal-plane projection angles were also calculated. Ankle DF ROM was not related to normalized peak vGRF, time to peak vGRF or loading rate (P > 0.05), regardless of the drop height. However, at drop heights of 100% and 150% of countermovement jump height, there were numerous significant (P < 0.05) moderate to large correlations between ankle DF ROM and initial contact angles (r = -0.34 to -0.40) and peak angles (r = -0.42 to -0.52) for the knee and ankle joint. Knee joint displacement (r = 0.39-0.47) and frontal-plane projection angle (r = 0.37-0.40) had a positive relationship with ankle DF ROM, which was consistent across all drop heights. Ankle DF ROM influences coordination strategies that allow for the management of vGRF during bilateral drop-landings, with alterations in alignment for the knee and ankle joints at both initial contact and peak angles.