GENDER DIFFERENCES IN GROUND REACTION FORCES DURING RUNNING AND AGILITY-TYPE MOTIONS

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Foot and gait characteristics are different between genders. The purpose of this study was to determine if gender has an effect on ground reaction force characteristics during running and agility-type motions. Twenty-two apparently healthy female (73.8±8.4kg; 1.74 ±0.06 m) and seven male (73.5 ±5.3 kg; 1.68 ±0.02 m) current or recently graduated NCAA Division III athletes voluntarily participated in this study. Subjects wore a volleyball shoe while performing four different actions: running, cutting, shuffling, and back cutting. Three 2x4 repeated measures ANOVAs (a<0.05) were used to determine if there were significant differences between gender and the agility-type motions for vertical force, medial/lateral force, and contact time. Significant interaction effects were observed in the vertical (p=0.005), medial/lateral (p=0.046), and contact time (p=0.026).