A BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF CUTTING MOVEMENT WHILE RUNNING WITH CHANGE IN DIRECTIONS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate techniques of change of direction during running, and obtain findings to improve cutting movement. Thirty six male university students, who are soccer, basketball, rugby, and handball players, participanted in this study as subjects. In the experimental trials, subjects ran 30m straight and zigzag run with five changes of direction of 30, 60 and 90 degrees using side and cross step. Twenty subject’s runs were chosen for further analysis based on the time of 30m straight run and an index of change of direction. There were significant correlations between the time of zigzag running and the index of change of direction. The results suggested that the time of zigzag running was affected not only by the ability to run straight but also by the techniques of changing direction in running.