Relationships between sprint skating performance and insole plantar forces in national-level hockey athletes

Background: Sprint skating is essential for competitive success in hockey. Previous studies have highlighted various measures of lower-body strength and power as key factors influencing sprint performance. However, while these studies have indicated a significant association between the ability to exert greater force and impulse into the ice surface, and the capacity to achieve faster sprint skating speeds, the direct relationship between these factors remains largely inferred.

Research question: What are the relationships between insole plantar force variables, sprint skating performance, and their association with physical capacity measures, in national-level male hockey athletes?

Methods: Athletes (n=13) performed 25 m sprint skating trials with insole force sensors and completed: ankle dorsiflexion and hip abduction range-of-motion (ROM), countermovement jump (CMJ), seated single-leg jump, and 10-5 repeated-hop test (RHT) assessments.

Results: Relationships were assessed using Kendall's Tau rank correlations (τ), with significant relationships identified between mean relative weight acceptance impulse [WAI] and 0-5 m (τ=0.47) and total distance (τ=0.46) times. Additionally, significant associations were observed between mean relative WAI and: CMJ relative eccentric deceleration impulse (τ=0.44), CMJ eccentric peak velocity (τ=-0.46) and RHT concentric impulse (τ=-0.56). Finally, significant relationships were identified between mean relative PI for all strides and the 10-20 m split, with peak velocity (PV) (τ=-0.58 to -0.73); and between ankle dorsiflexion ROM and PV (τ=-0.57).

Significance: Athletes with faster initial acceleration and overall sprint performance times demonstrated lower relative WAI during their strides and employed a jump strategy that optimized concentric impulse with a rapid eccentric phase. To attain a high PV the athletes appeared to require a stride that maximized glide and minimized vertical force, with greater ankle dorsiflexion ROM potentially facilitating this.