Nordic hamstring exercise asymmetries do not influence change of direction abilities
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Multidirectional demands in team sports emphasise eccentric hamstring strength, as the hamstrings play a critical role in modulating ground reaction forces during deceleration and change of direction (COD). A common method to assess limb asymmetry is the Nordic Hamstring Exercise (NHE), an eccentric movement which derives metrics such as maximum force and impulse which are associated with improved linear acceleration in team-sport athletes. The primary aim was to examine how NHE-derived symmetries and limb differences influence COD sprint performance metrics. Forty-six university-level athletes (28 males, 18 females; age 20.37 ± 1.47 years) underwent 30-m linear and COD sprints, alongside bilateral NHE on the VALD Nordbord measuring maximum force, average force, and impulse. Non-parametric data were analysed using ART followed by general linear models in SPSS, with fixed factors of symmetry grouping, limb, and direction (for directional metrics) and a significance of p < .05. No significant effects or interactions emerged for symmetry grouping across metrics including MDSA area, area percentage, acceleration, directional velocity and directional acceleration, and NHE forces and impulse. Limb grouping showed significant effects on area percentage (p = .02; left higher) and maximum force (p = .05; right higher), while directional grouping revealed highly significant effects (p < .001) with sharper angles yielding lower acceleration and velocity. These findings suggest NHE symmetries do not substantially influence COD performance in this cohort, whereas limb-specific differences influence area percentage and maximum force, and sharper turn angles substantially reduce acceleration and velocity.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Each author warrants that his or her submission to the Work is original and that he or she has full power to enter into this agreement. Neither this Work nor a similar work has been published elsewhere in any language nor shall be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration by Journal of Human Sport and Exercise (JHSE). Each author also accepts that the JHSE will not be held legally responsible for any claims of compensation.
Authors wishing to include figures or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.
Please include at the end of the acknowledgements a declaration that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed. The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the abovementioned requirements. The author(s) will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.
This title is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
-
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
-
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
- You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
- No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
How to Cite
References
Arboix-Alió, J., Buscà, B., Miró, A., Bishop, C., & Fort-Vanmeerhaeghe, A. (2024). Ground Reaction Forces, Asymmetries and Performance of Change of Direction Tasks in Youth Elite Female Basketball Players. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 12(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports12010021
Bishop, C., Read, P., Chavda, S., Jarvis, P., Brazier, J., Bromley, T., & Turner, A. (2022). Magnitude or Direction? Seasonal Variation of Interlimb Asymmetry in Elite Academy Soccer Players. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 36(4), 1031-1037. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003565
Bishop, C., Read, P., Lake, J., Loturco, I., & Turner, A. (2021). A Novel Approach for Athlete Profiling: The Unilateral Dynamic Strength Index. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 35(4), 1023-1029. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002871
Bishop, C., Turner, A., Maloney, S., Lake, J., Loturco, I., Bromley, T., & Read, P. (2019). Drop Jump Asymmetry is Associated with Reduced Sprint and Change-of-Direction Speed Performance in Adult Female Soccer Players. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 7(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7010029
Brughelli, M., Cronin, J., Levin, G., & Chaouachi, A. (2008). Understanding change of direction ability in sport: a review of resistance training studies. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 38(12), 1045-1063. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200838120-00007
Cronin, J. B., & Templeton, R. L. (2008). Timing light height affects sprint times. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 22(1), 318-320. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e31815fa3d3
Dos'Santos, T., Thomas, C., & Jones, P. A. (2021). The effect of angle on change of direction biomechanics: Comparison and inter-task relationships. Journal of sports sciences, 39(22), 2618-2631. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2021.1948258
Dos'Santos, T., Thomas, C., Jones, P. A., & Comfort, P. (2018). The effect of angle and velocity on change of direction biomechanics: An angle-velocity trade-off. Sports Medicine, 48(10), 2235-2253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-018-0968-3
DosʼSantos, T., Thomas, C., Jones, P. A., & Comfort, P. (2019). Assessing Asymmetries in Change of Direction Speed Performance: Application of Change of Direction Deficit. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 33(11), 2953-2961. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002438
Elkin, L. A., Kay, M., Higgins, J. J., & Wobbrock, J. O. (2021). An Aligned Rank Transform Procedure for Multifactor Contrast Tests. The 34th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1145/3472749.3474784
Freitas, T. T., Pereira, L. A., Alcaraz, P. E., Arruda, A. F. S., Guerriero, A., Azevedo, P. H. S. M., & Loturco, I. (2019). Influence of Strength and Power Capacity on Change of Direction Speed and Deficit in Elite Team-Sport Athletes. Journal of human kinetics, 68, 167-176. https://doi.org/10.2478/hukin-2019-0069
Freitas, T. T., Pereira, L. A., Alcaraz, P. E., Comyns, T. M., Azevedo, P. H. S. M., & Loturco, I. (2022). Change-of-Direction Ability, Linear Sprint Speed, and Sprint Momentum in Elite Female Athletes: Differences Between Three Different Team Sports. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 36(1), 262-267. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003857
Gordon, G., & Green, A. (In Press). A New Method of Analysing Sprint, Deceleration, and Change of Direction Abilities in Trained Athletes. Sports.
Graham-Smith, P., Rumpf, M., & Jones, P. A. (2018). Assessment of Deceleration Ability and Relationship to Approach Speed and Eccentric Strength. ISBS Proceedings Archive, 36(1).
Hader, K., Mendez-Villanueva, A., Palazzi, D., Ahmaidi, S., & Buchheit, M. (2016). Metabolic power requirement of change of direction speed in young soccer players: Not all is what it seems. PloS One, 11(3), Article e0149839. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0149839
Harper, D. J., Carling, C., & Kiely, J. (2019). High-Intensity Acceleration and Deceleration Demands in Elite Team Sports Competitive Match Play: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 49(12), 1923-1947. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01170-1
Harper, D. J., McBurnie, A. J., Santos, T. D., Eriksrud, O., Evans, M., Cohen, D. D., Rhodes, D., Carling, C., & Kiely, J. (2022). Biomechanical and Neuromuscular Performance Requirements of Horizontal Deceleration: A Review with Implications for Random Intermittent Multi-Directional Sports. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 52(10), 2321-2354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01693-0
Jones, P. A., Herrington, L., & Graham-Smith, P. (2016). Braking characteristics during cutting and pivoting in female soccer players. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 30, 46-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2016.05.006
Kocak, U. Z., Stiffler-Joachim, M. R., & Heiderscheit, B. C. (2023). Comparison of eccentric hamstring strength and asymmetry at return-to-sport after hamstring strain injury among those who did and did not re-injure. Physical therapy in sport: official journal of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sports Medicine, 59, 25-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2022.11.006
Loturco, I., A. Pereira, L., T. Freitas, T., E. Alcaraz, P., Zanetti, V., Bishop, C., & Jeffreys, I. (2019). Maximum acceleration performance of professional soccer players in linear sprints: Is there a direct connection with change-of-direction ability? PLOS ONE, 14(5), e0216806. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216806
Loturco, I., Bishop, C., Freitas, T. T., Pereira, L. A., & Jeffreys, I. (2019). Vertical Force Production in Soccer: Mechanical Aspects and Applied Training Strategies. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 42(2), 1. https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000513
Morin, J. B., Gimenez, P., Edouard, P., Arnal, P., Jiménez-Reyes, P., Samozino, P., Brughelli, M., & Mendiguchia, J. (2015). Sprint Acceleration Mechanics: The Major Role of Hamstrings in Horizontal Force Production. Frontiers in physiology, 6, 404. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2015.00404
Nimphius, S., Callaghan, S. J., Bezodis, N. E., & Lockie, R. G. (2018). Change of Direction and Agility Tests: Challenging Our Current Measures of Performance. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 40(1), 26-38. https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000309
O'Cain, C. M., Inclan, P. M., Spratley, E. M., Arbogast, K. B., Lessley, D. J., Evans, W. B., Stollberg, B., & Brophy, R. H. (2025). Player Tracking Metrics to Predict Risk of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries During Change-of-Direction Scenarios in the National Football League. The American journal of sports medicine, 53(11), 2523-2532. https://doi.org/10.1177/03635465251361138
Opar, D. A., Williams, M. D., Timmins, R. G., Hickey, J., Duhig, S. J., & Shield, A. J. (2015). The effect of previous hamstring strain injuries on the change in eccentric hamstring strength during preseason training in elite Australian footballers. The American journal of sports medicine, 43(2), 377-384. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546514556638
Sheppard, J. M., & Young, W. B. (2006). Agility literature review: classifications, training and testing. Journal of sports sciences, 24(9), 919-932. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410500457109
Thomas, T. D. C., Comfort, P., & Jones, P. A. (2018). Comparison of Change of Direction Speed Performance and Asymmetries between Team-Sport Athletes: Application of Change of Direction Deficit. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 6(4), 174. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports6040174
Urška Ličen, & Žiga Kozinc. (2023). The influence of inter-limb asymmetries in muscle strength and power on athletic performance: a review. Montenegrin Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 12(1), 75-86. https://doi.org/10.26773/mjssm.230310
Virgile, A., & Bishop, C. (2021). A Narrative Review of Limb Dominance: Task Specificity and the Importance of Fitness Testing. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 35(3), 846-858. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003851
Wobbrock, J. O., Findlater, L., Gergle, D., & Higgins, J. J. (2011). The aligned rank transform for nonparametric factorial analyses using only anova procedures. Proceedings of the 2011 Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '11. https://doi.org/10.1145/1978942.1978963