Last updated on March 24, 2020
The weekly recap of what is going on in the world of biomechanics.
COVID-19
COVID-19 has the world under control. Universities around the world must close, scientists work in their home offices and students have to stay at home. The current situation is drastic and requires modern solutions. But some great initiatives from the world of biomechanics and sports sciences show that it is possible. Here, some free webinars for students around the world are being organized:
A network of biomechanics guest lectures
Performance in the Multi-Disciplinary team: Research to Practice
Workload Monitoring in Football: What’s next?
ISBS Grants Deadline 26th April
As every year, the ISBS provides financial support to dedicated up-and-coming scientists. Until 26th April 2020 you can still apply for one of the following grants! What you can apply for and how to apply, you can read up on under the following links:
Student Research Grant: https://isbs.org/grants/student-mini-research-grant
Student Intern Grant: https://isbs.org/grants/student-intern-grant
Early Career and Developing Researcher Mobility Grant: https://isbs.org/grants/ecr-grant
Now Open Access until the end of April
Schwenzfeier, A. et al. (2020). Increased sprint performance with false step in collegiate athletes trained to forward step. Sports Biomechanics. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2020.1713205
This article from the BiPed Laboratory of the University of North Dakota deals with the highly controversial “false step”, a step in the opposite of the direction of travel right before a sprint. In the discussion so far, there have been two contrary arguments: One was that it is a “wasted motion”, which is primarily a waste of time and therefore a disadvantage. The others, on the other hand, said that with the help of the “false step” one could generate a higher impulse, similar to the mechanism of the Countermovement Jump (CMJ). In addition, it is possible to take advantage of the stretch-shortening cycle of the working muscles and thus achieve a higher acceleration. A faster acceleration can be advantageous, especially in game sports where positional play is crucial.
Schwenzfeier and colleagues examined this case measuring 30 college athletes from various sports, who had to complete a 10m sprint with and without counter movement. And the results are clear: With “False-Step” the 10m sprint times of the athletes were reduced by 0.23s on average. Furthermore, the speed of the body’s center of gravity was significantly faster than without the counter movement.
So, we think this is the end of this discussion. Great work!
