title: Expertise and the regulation of gait in the approach phase of the long jump.
abstract: In the approach phase of the long jump, athletes attempt to strike the take-off board accurately with minimum loss of speed, and in an optimum body position for take-off. Previous research has shown that skilled long jumpers demonstrate an ascending-descending trend of variability rather than a consistent pattern of foot placement over trials. The present study examined whether non-long jumpers showed a similar pattern of variability in footfall placement between trials to skilled long jumpers. Consistency of foot placement over trials for non-long jumpers (n = 11) was determined using a panned video camera. Digitization of the foot position provided toe-board distances during the run-up phase. Our results showed that non-long jumpers have a similar pattern of descending variability near to the take-off board to expert long jumpers, suggesting the use of visual regulation. However, in comparison to more skilled subjects, non-long jumpers accumulated a considerably larger maximum mean standard deviation in footfall placement between trials (58 cm). Since non-long jumpers had no previous task-specific training, these data extend our current understanding of the regulation of goal-directed gait.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, UK.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: F X
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Davids
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005528:Foot / Q000502:physiology; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012420:Running / Q000193:education / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014142:Track and Field / Q000193:education / Q000502:physiology*; D014743:Videotape Recording; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology