Strength Report - The Effects of Ankle Position on Change of Direction Movements on the Field

Through our teachings of how athletes can reprogram their nervous systems to increase their speed and athleticism, the repositioning of the ankle joint has been the number two most important aspect for increasing acceleration and maximum velocity ability. The most important, joint reposition, is the change and control of the body position. The ankle must be dorsi-flexed immediately at take-off. In fact, Ralph Mouchbahani, while at the University of Freiberg, demonstrated that electrical activity could be observed during maximum velocity sprinting through EMG measurement over the anterior compartment of the lower leg prior to actual take-off. Anterior compartment muscles have responsibility for dorsi-flexing the ankle. There was a strong correlation in the timing for the anterior compartment activity and the speed of the sprinters. The better the sprinter, the sooner the electrical