Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sprint biomechanics assessment with low-cost systems: a reliability study

  • Research
  • Published:
Sport Sciences for Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The individual determination of force-velocity and power-velocity profiles during sprint is of great interest to coaches and sports physiotherapists. As a very short action, sprint evaluation requires a sufficiently accurate and reliable system. The aim of this study was to analyze the reliability of the free software Kinovea®, compared to the MySprint App (Apple Inc, USA). Thirty-one soccer players were evaluated and a comparative study was carried out, where 62 sprints of 30-m were analyzed by two rates: experienced and non-experienced. Vertical poles were placed at 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 m. All the sprints were recorded in slow motion and HD image quality. Comparisons of partial and total times were made, in addition to force, velocity and power outputs. No differences were shown between the two measurement methods for the different sprint times (ICC = 0.676–0.941, P < 0.001). The intra-rater reliability of total time in the experienced rater was almost perfect: ICC = 0.993 for Kinovea and 0.984 for the MySprint app; the intra-rater reliability for non-experienced one was 0.833 for Kinovea and 0.862 for the MySprint app. Comparing both methods, the ICC was 0.896. There were no significant differences between the variables force, velocity and power (P > 0.05). This study shows that Kinovea + Excel spreadsheet is a reliable method, also an accessible and low-cost option for sport professionals. However, experience using the software is required, but not for the use of the MySprint app, which is an advantage for non-experienced testers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

We managed data analysis with Excel spreadsheets shared with Google Drive https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1A_nz7opwYgskCt57x3hq2AFCUrlS95jm

References

  1. Romero-Franco N, Jiménez-Reyes P, Castaño-Zambudio A, Capelo-Ramírez F, Rodríguez-Juan JJ, González-Hernández J et al (2017) Sprint performance and mechanical outputs computed with an iPhone app: Comparison with existing reference methods. Eur J Sport Sci 17(4):386–392. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2016.1249031

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Samozino P, Rabita G, Dorel S, Slawinski J, Peyrot N, Saez de Villarreal E (2016) A simple method for measuring power, force, velocity properties, and mechanical effectiveness in sprint running. Scand J Med Sci Sports. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12490

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Delgado-García G, Rueda Boza J, Moreno Vecino B, Benito Colio B (2022) Precisión de dos apps móviles (Lapstrack y Videography) para medir el tiempo del esprint de ida y vuelta. En: Viaje didáctico por el cuerpo y la mente: experiencia desde la abstracción científico matemática a la educación física. Colección Conocimiento Contemporáneo, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  4. Morin JB, Samozino P, Murata M, Cross M, Nagahara R (2019) A simple method for computing sprint acceleration kinetics from running velocity data: Replication study with improved design. J Biomech. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2019.07.020

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Stenroth L, Vartiainen P, Karjalainen PA (2020) Force-velocity profiling in ice hockey skating: reliability and validity of a simple, low-cost field method. Sports Biomech. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2020.1770321

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Landis JR, Koch GG (1977) The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics 33(1):159–174

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Jiménez-Reyes P, Garcia-Ramos A, Párraga-Montilla JA, Morcillo-Losa JA, Cuadrado-Peñafiel V, Castaño-Zambudio A et al (2022) Seasonal changes in the sprint acceleration force-velocity profile of elite male soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 36(1):70–74

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Edouard P, Lahti J, Nagahara R, Samozino P, Navarro L, Guex K et al (2021) Low horizontal force production capacity during sprinting as a potential risk factor of hamstring injury in football. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18(15):7827. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18157827

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Fernández-Galván LM, Jiménez-Reyes P, Cuadrado-Peñafiel V, Casado A (2022) Sprint performance and mechanical force-velocity profile among different maturational stages in young soccer players. Int J Environ Res Public Health 19(3):1412. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031412

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Larson DP, Noonan BC (2014) A simple video-based timing system for on-ice team testing in ice hockey: a technical report. J Strength Cond Res 28(9):2697–2703. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000570

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Bond CW, Willaert EM, Noonan BC (2017) Comparison of three timing systems: reliability and best practice recommendations in timing short-duration sprints. J Strength Cond Res 31(4):1062–1071. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001566

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Damsted C, Nielsen RO, Larsen LH (2015) Reliability of video-based quantification of the knee- and hip angle at foot strike during running. Int J Sports Phys Ther 10(2):147–154

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Balsalobre-Fernández C, Tejero-González CM, del Campo-Vecino J, Bavaresco N (2014) The concurrent validity and reliability of a low-cost, high-speed camera-based method for measuring the flight time of vertical jumps. J Strength Cond Res 28(2):528–533. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e318299a52e

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Dingenen B, Barton C, Janssen T, Benoit A, Malliaras P (2018) Test-retest reliability of two-dimensional video analysis during running. Phys Ther Sport 33(40):47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2018.06.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Grigg J, Haakonssen E, Rathbone E, Orr R, Keogh J (2018) The validity and intra-tester reliability of markerless motion capture to analyse kinematics of the BMX Supercross gate start. Sports Biomech 17(3):383–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2017.1353129

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Haugen TA, Tønnessen E, Seiler SK (2012) The difference is in the start: impact of timing and start procedure on sprint running performance. J Strength Cond Res 26(2):473–479. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e318226030b

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Mildenberger C (2021) Utilidades del software Kinovea Una revisión narrativa. Rev Asoc Kinesiol Deporte 24(86):10–25

    Google Scholar 

  18. Buscà B, Quintana M, Padullés J (2016) High-speed cameras in sport and exercise: practical applications in sports training and performance analysis. Aloma Rev Psicol Ciènc Educ Esport 34:13–23

    Google Scholar 

  19. Pueo B (2016) High speed cameras for motion analysis in sports science. J Hum Sport Exerc 11:53–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Lee Y, Min KE, Park J (2020) Correlation and reliability of two field tests for vertical jump height. Asian J Kinesiol 22(1):9–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Jiménez-Reyes P, Samozino P, García-Ramos A, Cuadrado-Peñafiel V, Brughelli M, Morin JB (2018) Relationship between vertical and horizontal force-velocity-power profiles in various sports and levels of practice. PeerJ 6:e5937. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5937

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Paola Giménez from University of Gran Rosario and Lisandro Leon for their collaboration with this project. Also, thanks to Club Atlético Rosario Central for the loan of facilities and players for data collection.

Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Activity and Faculty of Physiotherapy, University of Gran Rosario, Rosario, Argentina

    Clarisa Mildenberger

  2. Department of Training, Faculty of Physical Activity, University of Gran Rosario, Rosario, Argentina

    Alfio Aragona & Carlos Guissani

  3. Department of Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, Club Atlético Rosario Central, Rosario, Argentina

    Alfio Aragona & Nahuel Panci

  4. SER Research Group, Department of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, Center of Higher Education Alberta Giménez, Affiliated to Pontifical University of Comillas, Palma, Spain

    Gabriel Delgado-García

Authors
  1. Clarisa Mildenberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alfio Aragona
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Carlos Guissani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nahuel Panci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gabriel Delgado-García
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

C.M. wrote the main manuscript text, project administration and data aqcuisition and analysis. A.A. conceptualization and data analysis. C.G. data acquisition and data analysis. N.P. collaboration with data acquisition. G.D.G. contribute to the conception of the study, statistical analysis and data interpretation. All authors reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Clarisa Mildenberger.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interests

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mildenberger, C., Aragona, A., Guissani, C. et al. Sprint biomechanics assessment with low-cost systems: a reliability study. Sport Sci Health (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-024-01209-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-024-01209-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation