Fatigue modifies hip and knee kinematics during single- and double-leg dynamic tasks: An investigation with female handball players

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effect of a handball-specific fatigue protocol on hip and knee kinematics. Twenty female handball athletes performed three trials of the single-leg landing (SLL), sidestep cutting manoeuvre (SCM), and drop vertical jump (DVJ) before and after the fatigue protocol. Knee and hip angle waveforms were compared using statistical parametric mapping (p < 0.05). During the SLL, the fatigue increased hip adduction (4–7% cycle) and knee abduction (4–9% and 25–27%). For the SCM, hip flexion was reduced under fatigue during 14–29% and 44–68% of the cycle. Similarly, the knee flexion decreased between 7–36% and 53–73%. Besides, during the fatigue state, the athletes reduced the hip abduction between 0–11% of the cycle and increased the knee abduction between 20–23%. During the DVJ task, when fatigued, the hip flexion decreased between 19–44% of the cycle and the knee flexion between 1–16% and 18–77%. The fatigue protocol altered the lower limb kinematics, decreasing knee and hip flexions during the SCM and DVJ and increasing the knee valgus during both single-leg landing tasks.

KEYWORDS:

• Handball
• fatigue
• knee
• kinematics
• sidestep cutting manoeuvre

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the technical staff and athletes for participating and contributing to the current study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the CAPES [001]; Human Movement Biomechanics Laboratory [-]; São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) [2018/20362-8]; São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) [2019/04721-0].