Foot kinematics and loading of professional athletes in American football-specific tasks

The purpose of this study was to describe stance foot and ankle kinematics and the associated ground reaction forces at the upper end of human performance in professional football players during commonly performed football-specific tasks. Nine participants were recruited from the spring training squad of a professional football team. In a motion analysis laboratory setting, participants performed three activities used at the NFL Scouting Combine to assess player speed and agility: the 3-cone drill, the shuttle run, and the standing high jump. The talocrural and first metatarsophalangial joint dorsiflexion, subtalar joint inversion, and the ground reaction forces were determined for the load bearing portions of each activity. We documented load-bearing foot and ankle kinematics of elite football players performing competition-simulating activities, and confirmed our hypothesis that the talocrural, subtalar, and metatarsophalangeal joint ranges of motion for the activities studied approached or exceeded reported physiological limits.

► We measured the foot motion and ground reaction forces of American football specific activities. ► Nine professional level football players, three each from three classes of players participated. ► Activities included initiation of motion, cutting, running, jumping and landing, and planting. ► Foot motion parameters included talocrural, metatarsophalangial joint, and subtalar angles. ► The athlete's foot motion routinely reached the accepted range of motion limits for all joints.