FRICTION DEMAND DURING RUNNING AND CUTTING

Mark G Blanchette, Susan M Sigward and Christopher M Powers

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
email: mgblanch@usc.edu, web: http://pt.usc.edu/labs/mbrl


INTRODUCTION

Slips occur when the utilized friction (uCOF) of an
individual exceeds the available friction provided
by the shoe-floor interface.
1
Utilized friction can be
influenced by a number of factors including
footwear and the nature of the task performed.
2,3

Previous studies have reported that the uCOF
during normal speed walking ranges from 0.17 to
0.20,
4
however, no study has examined the friction
demands during sport activities. A survey of injuries
during netball (a European sport similar to
basketball) identified the most severe injuries were
the result of slip or fall events.
5
Slip induced
injuries in court sports are likely due to greater
friction demands associated with sport related tasks.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the
uCOF during running and 2 types of cutting
maneuvers (side-step cut and V-cut). Knowledge of
the uCOF during sport-specific activities is
important step in establishing footwear
requirements and standards for court surfaces and in
order to prevent slip events.

METHODS

Sixteen healthy young men between the ages of 18
and 22 participated in this study. The average age,
height and weight of the study participants were
19.7 1.2 yrs, 180.9 8.5 cm, and 77.4 8.3 kg
respectively.

To control for the potential influence of varying
footwear, subjects were fitted with the same style of
cross-training shoe (New Balance Inc., Boston,
MA). Practice trials were performed for subjects to
become familiar with the instrumentation and
procedures. Subjects performed 2 cutting tasks
(side-step cut and a V-cut). For the side-step cutting
maneuver, subjects ran approximately 5 meters
before contacting the foot of their dominant side on
a force plate and changed direction to either the
right or left at a 35-60 angle from the original
direction of motion. For the V-cutting procedure,
subjects ran approximately 5 meters before
contacting the foot of their dominant side on the
force plate, but then backpedaled to either the right
or left at a 125-155 angle from the original
direction of motion. The speed of each trial was
controlled (6.5-8 m/s) using photo electric triggers.
To better simulate a real-life athletic condition, the
performance of the cutting tasks was unanticipated.
A delayed illumination on a board visible to the
subjects as they approached the force plate signaled
the subjects to either continue running straight
ahead or to perform one of the cutting tasks. The
order of the tasks performed was randomized for
each subject.

Ground reaction forces (GRFs) were recorded using
a force platform (Advanced Mechanical
Technologies, Inc., Newton, MA) at 1560 Hz.
Utilized friction was calculated as the ratio of
resultant shear force to vertical force. For each trial,
subjects peak uCOF was determined during the
first 50% of the stance phase. To avoid spuriously
high uCOF values caused by the division of small
GRF values, only data after the first 5% of stance
phase was considered. A one-way repeated
measures ANOVA was performed to test for
differences in peak uCOF among the 3 conditions.
Similarly one-way ANOVAs were performed to
assess for differences in the vertical force and
resultant shear force at the time of peak uCOF. For
all ANOVA tests, post-hoc comparisons consisting
of paired t-tests were employed using a Fishers
LSD adjustment. All significance levels were set at
p<0.05.


RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The ANOVA comparing peak uCOF among the 3
dynamic tasks was significant (p <0.001). Post-hoc
testing revealed that uCOF was significantly
different among the 3 conditions. On average the
uCOF during running had the lowest uCOF while
the uCOF during the performance of the V-cut was
the highest (Figure 1). With respect to ground
reaction forces at the time of peak uCOF, there were
no significant differences in the vertical GRF
among tasks. However, there was a significant
effect of task on the resultant shear GRF (p <0.001).
Post-hoc testing revealed that both cutting tasks had
significantly greater resultant shear forces compared
to running (Figure 2). No difference in the resultant
shear force was found between the side-step cut and
the V-cut.


Figure 1. Comparison of peak uCOF across the 3 tasks. *
indicates significantly different from running. indicates
significantly different from S-cut.


Figure 2. Comparison of Resultant Shear GRF at time of peak
utilized friction across the 3 tasks. * indicates significantly
different from running.

Our data indicate that uCOF varies significantly
based on the task performed. In general, the uCOF
for the sport-specific tasks evaluated in the current
study far exceeded what has been reported for
normal speed walking (0.17-0.20).
3
The increase in
uCOF during running and cutting was the result of
higher resultant shear forces as no differences in
vertical forces were found at the time of peak
uCOF.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of our study indicate that the friction
demands during various sport-specific tasks are
considerable. In particular, cutting tasks were found
to require greater friction compared to running. The
higher friction demands during cutting were the
result of the generation of greater shear forces to
facilitate a change in direction. The data obtained
from this study can be used to establish available
requirements for court surfaces in order to prevent
the likelihood of a slip event during athletic
competition.

REFERENCES

1. Hanson JP, Redfern MS, Mazumdar M.
Ergonomics. 1999;42(12):1619-33.
2. Burnfield JM, Tsai YJ, Powers CM Gait &
Posture. 2005;22:82-8.
3. Tsai YJ, Powers CM. Gait & Posture.
2009;30(3):303-6.
4. Redfern et al., Ergonomics. 2001;44:1138-66.
5. Hopper D. Australian J Physiol. 1986;32(4):231-
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