Effects of inter-limb asymmetries on acceleration and change of direction speed: a between-sport comparison of professional soccer and cricket athletes

Bishop, Chris ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1505-1287, Read, Paul, Brazier, Jon, Jarvis, Paul ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3259-853X, Chavda, Shyam ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7745-122X, Bromley, Tom and Turner, Anthony N. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5121-432X (2019) Effects of inter-limb asymmetries on acceleration and change of direction speed: a between-sport comparison of professional soccer and cricket athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (P) . pp. 1-8. ISSN 1064-8011 [Article] (Published online first) (doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000003135)

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Abstract

The first aim of the present study was to quantify and compare asymmetries among professional soccer and cricket athletes. The second aim was to examine the association between asymmetries and performance within both groups. Professional soccer (n = 18) and cricket (n = 23) athletes performed single leg countermovement jumps (SLCMJ), single leg drop jumps (SLDJ), a 10 m sprint and 505 change of direction speed (CODS) tests. Inter-limb asymmetries were calculated as a standard percentage difference, Mann-Whitney U tests conducted to establish systematic bias between groups and Spearmans r correlations used to establish the relationship between asymmetry scores and speed and CODS performance. Soccer athletes sprinted faster, jumped higher and had a greater reactive strength index (RSI) score than cricket athletes (p < 0.05). However, cricketers showed reduced ground contact times compared to footballers during the SLDJ (p < 0.05). The cricket group showed significantly greater jump height (asymmetry = 11.49 vs. 6.51%; p = 0.015) and RSI (asymmetry = 10.37 vs. 5.95%; p = 0.014) asymmetries compared to soccer players. These metrics were also associated with slower 505 times in the cricket group only (r = 0.56 to 0.74; p < 0.01). These results show that between-limb asymmetries exhibit no association with speed and CODS in elite soccer players, but are associated with reduced CODS in elite cricketers. Thus, the reduction of inter-limb asymmetries may be of greater consideration when working with cricket versus soccer athletes.

Item Type: Article
Research Areas: A. > School of Science and Technology > London Sport Institute > Strength and Conditioning at the London Sport Institute
Item ID: 28491
Notes on copyright: This is a non-final version of an article published in final form in: Bishop, C. et al., 2019.Effects of Interlimb Asymmetries on Acceleration and Change of Direction Speed: A Between-Sport Comparison of Professional Soccer and Cricket Athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, XX (p), pp.1–8. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003135.
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Depositing User: Chris Bishop
Date Deposited: 03 Dec 2019 14:38
Last Modified: 29 Nov 2022 19:10
URI: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/id/eprint/28491

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