Locomotion of Animals

Abstract

(p 5 0.001). No difference in performance was observed between the 0.8 and 1.2 traction conditions (3.52 AE 0.24 m/s for 1.2). The relationship between the experimentally assessed and theoretically predicted maximum curve sprinting speed is presented in Figure 1. Discussion and conclusion Increasing mechanically available traction improved curve sprinting performance but only to a certain level. The divergence between the theoretically predicted and the experimentally measured maximum curve sprinting speed at the 0.8 and 1.2 traction conditions suggests that other factors might set new constraints for further performance improvement. These speed-limiting factors warrant further study. Joints of the lower extremity experience large loading during running turns (Besier et al. 2001). Chang and Kram (2007) proposed that during top speed curve sprinting, muscles acting to stabilize the lower extremity joints in the frontal and transverse plane may have reached critical operation limits, which may in turn inhibit the leg from generating more extension force in the sagittal plane. Footwear designs that can effectively reduce the ankle and knee resultant moments in the non-sagittal planes will facilitate the testing of this theory and may potentially improve curve sprinting performance. Acknowledgement