Are dynamic joint mechanics, neuromotor function, and visual gaze in soccer players impacted by player characteristics, task demands, and environmental conditions?

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Movements performed during sports are complex tasks that require coordination between multiple body parts. The demands placed on the body during these activities are impacted by athlete characteristics (e.g. age), task demands (e.g. direction of cutting), and environment (e.g. obstacles). My sport biomechanics research program explores how these factors impact the overall performance of specific sporting tasks including skating. The current research will examine how athlete characteristics, task demands, and environmental factors impact tasks commonly performed in soccer, specifically cutting while running (i.e. quick change in direction). Over 800,000 Canadians were registered to play soccer in 2015 making it one of the fastest growing sports in Canada. Research is needed to determine how soccer players complete their various movements in challenging environments that require them to adapt to constantly changing situations. This research needs to be conducted in a manner that attempts to replicate real game situations. Understanding how athlete characteristics impact how they complete these movements is critical if we are to design coaching interventions specific to players' abilities and game situations in order to maximize player performance. Furthermore, investigating how movements change based on athlete characteristics, task demands, and environment will further our understanding of how these factors may result in improper movement patterns and if we can limit these negative consequences with training. This research will also contribute to scientific knowledge by studying how movement changes with age and how people avoid obstacles in complex environments. The objectives of this research is to examine how age, sex, experience, presence of obstacles, and training affect the movement pattern of soccer players while performing a cutting while running task. This research will include a series of interrelated projects with each examining how joint motion changes with varying athlete characteristics, task demands, or environmental conditions. The first project will compare cutting between different age groups and sexes. The second study will compare cutting between players with different experience levels when opposing player obstacles are presented or not presented. The third study will incorporate a training program into the warm-up routine of a soccer team, and compare their movement patterns during cutting before and after the season. Equipment will be utilized to measure how these players complete the cutting while running task including a camera system to measure body position, an electromyography system to measure when the muscles are contracting, and equipment capable of tracking where players are looking. The main variables will include joint angles and coordination, obstacle avoidance variables, muscle activation, and visual gaze.