Sean Sankey

The purpose of this study was to identify the anticipatory effects on factors that influence the ability to generate medial ground reaction forces in changes of direction, and the implications for injury risk markers. Twenty recreational soccer players completed 12 anticipated and 12 unanticipated side cutting tasks, whilst 3D motion capture and force plate data were collected. Five distinct movement strategies were found to represent factors that influence the medial ground reaction force vector, and comparisons were made between the two conditions using multiple t-tests in SPM1D. Whole-body dynamic stability is compromised by limited anticipation time, with a greater demand on a corrective hip strategy following a narrower foot placement and reduced sagittal plane loading efficiency. This may have implications for change of direction performance and injury risk.