AFL Insider on Foxtel Tonight - Andrew Russell analyses running technique

I've copied this from from a footy forum. Tonight on AFL Insider, Hawthorn Strength & Conditioning coach Andrew Russell will analyse the running techniques of Buddy Frankin & Cyril Rioli.

From Bigfooty -

"Showed a preview this evening on a story AFL insider is running next Tuesday on Cyril's new running action.

Looks great and will be very informative for us fans.

Will include an indepth interview and analysis with Andrew Russell. The preview showed a comparison between Buddy's running style and Cyril's and the impact of each action on the hamstring.

Key statement: Cyril may in fact get faster.


Lock in your IQ for Tuesday and perhaps we can try to include a link once it is screened.

Interesting bit from the preview was the difference between how Buddy lands on the ball of his foot (on his toes/front part of his foot) when running, whilst Cyril lands on his heel and rolls forward on his foot from there. This apparently puts more pressure on his hammy's and part of what they are trying to get him to change.

Will be an interesting watch tonight."

One would assume that if an athlete was running at pace, the knee angle in the sagittal plane would be largely influenced by foot positioning. To land on your midfoot/forefoot would assume a mild plantarflexed ankle joint (or forefoot on the midfoot), while a heel strike may assume a increased ankle joint dorsiflexion angle.
This increased dorsiflexion angle of ankle may possibly be link to kinematics altering at the knee in the sagittal plane . i.e. to run faster (inc stride length) - may require increased knee extension angle, thus may increase 'tensile' stress of the posterior compartment of the thigh (hamstrings). Also, the load from heel --> forefoot transitition may increase the eccentric loading time of the hamstrings as the knee moves into a flexed postion.
One would also assume a 'forefoot' strike would increase eccentric demand on the posterior compartment of the leg (gastroc-soleal / achilles unit) and there may be increase tensile loading of the achilles??

There's a fair whack of research coming out in the states, push by Professor Irene Davis right now...more so looking at gait retraining in prevention/reduce of 'overuse' pathologies such as tibial shock injuries and knee pain. However, the may soon be more links to common 'gait anomolies' and commonly seen 'acute' running injuries, and thus better intervention ideas available to coaching staff and health professionals.

Nitta

interestingly enough, I had a very long and detailed discussion with a hawthorn fitness staff member about cyril's running technique (and other things) in relation to his frequent hamstring injuries. I made a few suggestions about what I thought was going on and what he could do to fix it. a week later there was an announcement that the trainers were going to reconstruct his running style. certainly seems to have worked - no injuries since.


makes you think...

I have been unable to watch the Andrew Russell program (no Foxtel) but I am wondering did address the difference between the studies conducted on sprinters running on all-weather tracks in lanes in a straight line and footballers competing on an uneven grass surface with frequent changes of direction?
It would seem to me that many of the principles of efficient track sprinting, high hips etc may not apply in games played on fairly soft and unstable surfaces. Any thoughts?
Finally, congratulations Youngy on creating this forum and conducting things in a civilised manner. Since I retired from coaching five years ago it has occured to me how few good coaches there are in this Stafe, where are the new coaches?

Andrew Russell talking about the running analysis conducted on Cyril Rioli on Fox Footy, AFL's Insider Program in August 2011.

Cheers Youngy, very interesting.