Effect of Entry Velocity on Pickup Acceleration Performance

Sprint acceleration is a fundamental component of team sports and is typically measured from a static start, despite athletes frequently initiating sprints from a walking/jogging/running start on the field. The focus of this study was how the entry velocity varies within and between sessions and whether this affects subsequent sprint performance (i.e., pickup acceleration). Sixteen male athletes (age 21.9 ± 4.8 years) performed three sessions, each consisting of two sprints at each of the four pre-determined entry velocities (static start (0%), 20%, 40%, and 60% of maximum velocity), guided via an LED pacing system. Data were measured via a linear position encoder (1080 Sprint), from which maximum acceleration (amax), maximum velocity (vmax), and split times (2, 5, 10, and 20 m) were determined following the moment of pickup. Linear mixed-effects models were used, with entry velocity, trial, and session (and their interaction) as fixed effects and participant as a random effect. Entry velocity had a large effect on all variables (ηp2=0.22 to 0.97; p <0.001). The only variable to differ significantly across trial and session was vmax. However, the effect sizes were small and within trial (6.0-7.0%), and between-session (0.15 to 0.67%) coefficients of variation were less than 10%. In summary, entry velocity had minimal effect on the stability of amax, vmax, and split times across trials and sessions, and the practitioner can be confident that these measures are reasonably stable across repeated testing occasions and, therefore, can be used to measure and monitor pickup acceleration.