Overuse injuries are a severe problem for professional and recreational runners [1]. Well trained physiotherapist can analyse the functional movement of the athletes and base their treatment on individual deficits. However, the assessment is usually based on either video or direct observation. This leads to subjective findings and does not allow a reliable documentation of the running pattern. Therefore, quantitative tools for assessment have to be evaluated with respect to measuring the movement pattern and must also be evaluated in daily physiotherapeutic routines. In this study an instrumented treadmill was used, that can measure the pressure distribution during running. Method: Twenty-two soccer players were analysed while running on a treadmill at speeds of 10 and 16 km/h. Data was collected with a pressure plate integrated into the treadmill, and by visual assessment of the running pattern with a standardised protocol by a physiotherapist. Results: In general, the subjective rating of the running pattern was not correlated with the data from the pressure sensors. Selected movement patterns change the measured variables significantly. Discussion: This study showed that measurements based purely on pressure data are not sufficient to measure the movement pattern of professional athletes. Since the assessment of movement patterns based on subjective evaluation was found to not be reliable, further work is needed for a quantitative assessment of the functional movement pattern. We recommend a multi-dimensional approach, where kinematic, kinetic and EMG data are recorded simultaneously.
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