Kinetic and kinematic analysis of stamping impacts during simulated rucking in rugby union

ABSTRACT

Laceration injuries account for up to 23% of injuries in rugby union. They are frequently caused by studded footwear as a result of a player stamping onto another player during the ruck. Little is known about the kinetics and kinematics of rugby stamping impacts; current test methods assessing laceration injury risk of stud designs therefore lack informed test parameters. In this study, twelve participants stamped on an anthropomorphic test device in a one-on-one simulated ruck setting. Velocity and inclination angle of the foot prior to impact was determined from high-speed video footage. Total stamping force and individual stud force were measured using pressure sensors. Mean foot inbound velocity was 4.3 m ∙ s⁻¹ (range 2.1–6.3 m ∙ s⁻¹). Mean peak total force was 1246 N and mean peak stud force was 214 N. The total mean effective mass during stamping was 6.6 kg (range: 1.6–13.5 kg) and stud effective mass was 1.2 kg (range: 0.5–2.9 kg). These results provide representative test parameters for mechanical test devices designed to assess laceration injury risk of studded footwear for rugby union.

KEYWORDS:

• 3D analysis
• impact
• injury & prevention
• footwear
• kinetics

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr Claudia Mazzà from the University of Sheffield for supplying the pressure sensor system used in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.