Abstract
A study was conducted to investigate the cushioning effects of lower extremity functions on shock attenuation during landing on one leg.
Optical methods were used to investigate the cushioning effects of lower extremity functions, since these facilitated the quantitation of kinematic variables such as angle, change in angle, position, displacement and velocity during the landing. The subjects were 5 healthy students ranging in age from 21 to 24 years. Ground reaction force (GRF) was measured with a force platform. The impact force peaks showed vertical force-time averages for 1 subject landing on one leg or two legs for 10 trials each from a height of 10cm.
The peak/body weight of impact force of GRF upon landing was attenuated by the cushioning effects of the lower extremity functions, i. e. bending of the knee and ankle joints, more effectively on two legs than on one.
Supination and pronation of the ankle joint influenced the impact force peaks, and the results of this experiment demonstrated significant difference between the number of discharge bursts of leg muscles upon landing on one leg and those landing on two, the former being higher.
