The purpose of this study was to identify biomechanical variables that distinguish change of direction performance in an athletic population. Twenty varsity men`s soccer athletes were recruited. Motion capture and force plate data were collected simultaneously during the plant phase of a 505 agility test. The median time to complete the agility task was used to distinguish a "fast" group (n=10) and a "slow" group (n=10). An ANOVA (0.05 alpha level = was used to compare groups` kinematic and kinetic variables. Several differences were found between groups including: contact time, transition, relative horizontal to vertical ground reaction force, center of mass height, torso lean, pelvis rotation, spine rotation, hip adduction/abduction. The findings suggest that fast and slow change of direction performance adopt different technical strategies.
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