Biomechanical load quantification of national and regional soccer players with an inertial sensor setup during a jump, kick, and sprint task: assessment of discriminative validity

AbstractTraining load quantification methods may help optimize soccer performance. However, whole-body indicators potentially underestimate biomechanical load. A new inertial sensor setup allows joint-specific biomechanical load quantification. Good discriminative validity further supports the use of this method, and therefore the purpose of this study is to assess the discriminative validity of this method during soccer-specific activities. Twelve national and sixteen regional soccer players wore an inertial sensor setup and performed countermovement jumps, soccer kicks, and 30  m sprints. Between-group differences in angular acceleration-based biomechanical load indicatorsKnee Load,Hip Load, and performance were assessed using MANOVAs and Cohen ’s effect sizes. Furthermore, relationships with performance were explored. National players showed higherKnee Load during jumping (mean difference: 0.11 A.U., ES  = 0.93,p = 0.02), kicking (mean difference: 1.94 A.U., ES = 0.94;p = 0.02), and almost during sprinting (mean difference: 12.85, ES = 0.77;p = 0.05).Hip Load did not differ between groups across all tasks, although national players outperformed regional players on all tests. Significant relationships betweenKnee Load (rjump = 0.41,rkick = 0.65),Hip Load (rjump = 0.42), and performance were observed with 95% confidence intervals ranging from trivial to large. The results confirm discriminative validity ofKnee Load for jumping and kicking, ...

Source: Sports Engineering - April 19, 2024 Category: Sports Medicine Source Type: research