Are various forms of locomotion-speed diverse or unique performance quality?
The forward-sprint is considered to be, and is regularly performed as, a unique measure of "on-ground" linear-speed performance. Thus far, no investigation has simultaneously studied different forms of linear-speed or investigated whether different forms of linear-speed should be observed as unique performance quality. The purpose of this study was to determine (I) the achievements (i.e. execution time), and (II) the reliability and inter-relationships between various linear-speed performances. The participants were 42 male physical education students with substantial sport-specific backgrounds. We applied a total of six tests: three quadrupedal (supine backward, supine forward, and pronate backward locomotion) and three bipedal-performances (forward sprinting, backward sprinting, lateral shuffling). All of the tests showed appropriate reliability parameters (Cronbach Alpha ranged from 0.91 to 0.97; Inter-Item-R 0.78-0.92; Coefficient-of-Variation 1.3-9.1). The tests used in this study shared between 9% and 50% of the common variance. Our results suggest that different activities require activity-specific tests of linear-speed. This is particularly significant in those sports and activities in which quadrupedal locomotion patterns are highly important (wrestling, physically trained military services, law enforcement, fire and rescue, protective services).
University of Mostar, Faculty of Natural Science, Mathematics and Education, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mile
M
Cavar
Marin
M
Corluka
Ivana
I
Cerkez
Zoran
Z
Culjak
Damir
D
Sekulic
bipedal locomotion; factor analysis; quadrupedal locomotion; specific testing