Sprinting Patterns in Youth Initiating From Two Different Types of Starts

Different constraints, such as instructions, may influence the sprint start performance. The purpose of this study was to determine if the sprint start movements and acceleration time of a 30m sprint is altered using different instructions in youth. Participants were eight boys and one girl (11.7 ± .35 years). Anthropometrics were taken and a survey on sports’ experiences was administered. A cross-over, randomized design was used utilizing three groups: a control (C), verbal (VE), and video (V). Participants performed 2 pre and 2 post 30m sprints in all sessions. The intervention consisted of watching video instructions (V), listening to verbal instructions (VE), or having no instructions at all on a sprint start (C). The sprint start was video recorded and sprint times at each 5m were obtained for all measurements. Qualitative observations of three main features of the sprint start were performed. A repeated measures ANOVA (p < 0.05) revealed no significant differences in acceleration time. However, general tendencies of the body movements related to improving the start changed. Therefore, the effectivness of instructions on start movements cannot be neglected. Further research using larger sample size and quantitative approach in investigation of this matter is warranted.