Introduction to Sports Biomechanics: Analysing Human Movement ...

MOVEMENT PATTERNS – THE ESSENCE OF SPORTS BIOMECHANICS
Figure 1.18 Three-year-old boy running at his preferred speed. Top left: left foot toe-off (0 s); top right: right foot
touchdown (0.08 s); middle left: right foot mid-stance; middle right: right foot toe-off (0.24 s); bottom left: left
foot touchdown (0.30 s); bottom right: left foot mid-stance.
until toe-off, as the whole support leg lengthens. The ankle then dorsiflexes to a neutral
position in the swing phase and plantar flexes slightly just before touchdown. As
you should note from Figures 1.13 to 1.19, and from the video clips on the book’s
website, this sequence of movements varies somewhat from person to person (see
also, for example, Figure 3.11(b)), with the shoes worn, with running speed, and
between overground and treadmill running. The movement pattern for a child running
(Figure 1.18) is very different from that of an adult.
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